Eid day 2 💝

•••I thought I was going to sleep through the whole of today

After the stress of yesterday ,the meat preparation , house cleaning, cooking, movement up and down , I genuinely planned to disappear into my room today and rest properly, No noise, No responsibility, Just sleep and silence.

But as early as 7am, people were already knocking for minor things from the provision shop.

At first I ignored it because honestly no 😭

But the knocking continued and I started thinking about everyone else in the house still sleeping peacefully while customers outside were determined to wake the whole compound up.

And truly, na me be shop owner,

So around 8am, I dragged myself up, dressed casually, and opened the shop just so the knocking would stop.

That was how my Eid Day 2 started.

Funny enough, I didn’t even look like someone celebrating Eid, the children coming to buy things were all dressed beautifully in their new clothes looking fresh and happy while I was sitting there looking like someone that accidentally resumed work on a public holiday 😮‍💨

I kept complimenting them though,

••You people are looking too fine without me oh••

And children being children, they started asking me questions,

•Aunty barka da sallah

•Are you not going out?

•Where are your Eid clothes?

I jokingly started telling them I didn’t have clothes for Eid and that was why I was sitting at the shop, But because I still had henna on my fingers, they refused to believe me completely.

Some of them would say,

•You will still go out later,

So I’d laugh and reply

Okay then, who is taking me out? Since I don’t have anywhere to go?

And tell me why some of these children actually invited me to their houses 😭

The entire thing became one long playful conversation throughout the day,

Then something happened that genuinely softened my heart,Some of the children started coming back with stuff for me.

Not because I asked,

Not because they had to,

Just because they wanted to,

Few brought chops, Some came with chin chin, bottle drinks and some even brought meat.

Even the ones I jokingly told to take me out came back with something small in their hands like they had gone on a mission 😂

And somehow, that touched me deeply because I’m a lover of little things,

I had these crisp mint naira notes with me, so I started giving them out in return because I remember what collecting fresh Eid money felt like as a child.

The economy may be different now, but that excitement still exists in small hearts.

I stayed longer at the shop than I normally would,

My dad even asked:

••So no shop break for Eid?••

But strangely, it stopped feeling like work after a while,

Today wasn’t really about money,It became about people,

The random conversations.

The kindness from strangers.

The children checking on me,

The laughter between sales,

The warmth of being included in everyone’s little Eid happiness even though I started the day wanting to isolate myself.

I think sometimes Allah answers exhaustion with softness

Not necessarily through rest, But through moments that quietly remind you that life still has warmth in it.

Today, my little shop became more than a shop.

It became a place where children came to gist, strangers came with kindness and tiredness slowly turned into gratitude.

Alhamdulillah for Eid Day 2,

And alhamdulillah for everything 🌼

Yours with love ,

Fatima 💝