By: Orinboyeva Zarina
Zaynab is 12 years old. Although she is still young, she has already faced many harsh trials in life. Her father abandoned her when she was just a baby, and her mother, Dilshoda, went abroad to work when Zaynab was only five years old. Zaynab was left in the care of her sister-in-law, Farida. Every single day of her life passed in pain, sorrow, and agony. Her sister-in-law would constantly torment her, saying, “You are a miserable orphan. Your father disowned you, and your mother dumped you on me. You depend entirely on my mercy.” The poor little girl kept all her pain bottled up inside, thinking, βIf my mom finds out how much I am suffering, she won’t be able to bear it and will fall ill.β
The young girl would pour her deepest feelings onto paper in the form of stories, and she excelled in every subject at school. One day, her teacher said to her:
“Zaynab, my dear, a nationwide competition called ‘Young Creators’ has been announced. The first-place winner will receive a large cash prize. You have a real gift and talent for creative writing. Get ready, you are going to participate.”
The little girl replied:
“Teacher, I want to participate so much, but I can’t.”
“Why can’t you?” her teacher asked in surprise.
“My sister-in-law won’t allow me.”
“If your sister-in-law doesn’t allow it, you ask your mother. She will give you permission.”
“Teacher, you know this well yourselfβmy mother is abroad. I live under my sister-in-law’s roof, and I cannot go against her wishes.”
“Never give up on your dreams just because of what your sister-in-law wants! I will get the permission myself, you just keep preparing,” the teacher said firmly.
“If you could do that, I would be so happy,” Zaynab said, her eyes shining with newfound hope.
Despite the teacher calling the sister-in-law to the school three times, she never showed up. Left with no choice, the teacher went straight to Zaynabβs house. At first, the sister-in-law flatly refused to let her participate. Finally, the teacher lost her patience and said sharply:
“I don’t even need your permission; I only came out of courtesy to let you know. Zaynab might be under your roof right now, but her mother is her primary legal guardian. You have children of your ownβput them in this girl’s shoes for once!” With that, she took the girl and walked out of the house.
Walking down the road, the poor girl spoke up anxiously:
“Teacher, you shouldn’t have done that. Now she won’t leave me in peace; she might even kick me out of the house.”
But her teacher comforted her:
“Don’t worry, she cannot harm you. Don’t think about that. Right now, the two of us will have lunch, and then we’ll go to school to prepare for the competition.”
The little girl softly pleaded:
“Just please… don’t let my mom know about this incident.”
The process of preparing for the competition was far from easy. At first, she would practice every day from morning until dusk at school with her teacher, and after sunset, she would stay up all night at home, nursing the pain of her sister-in-law’s daily beatings. Later, seeing her student’s miserable and battered condition, the teacher stopped sending her home and started taking Zaynab to her own house. Zaynab would tell her mother over the phone: “I am preparing for the competition with my teacher, which is why I’m staying over.” The teacher had also called the mother to get her permission, using the competition as the reason.
A considerable amount of time passed. The young girl won the prestigious first place in the republican stage of the competition and was awarded a prize of 100 million UZS. Her creative work was widely covered in the mass media. The whole of Uzbekistan came to know the young girl. Hearing about her daughter’s massive success, her mother rushed back from abroad. Even her father saw her on television and deeply regretted his past actions. After a long search, he tracked his daughter down and begged for her forgiveness. But Zaynab did not forgive him.
After all, how could she forgive someone who had never once held her close as a daughter, someone she hadn’t seen at all in 12 long years?! Her mother immediately bought a house, and they moved out together. The little girl was finally free from her sister-in-lawβs cruelty once and for all.
One day, while the mother and daughter were sitting and talking, the doorbell rang. When Zaynab opened the door, she saw Faridaβs two childrenβAsal and Azimβstanding there. Both of them had tears streaming down their faces. With a trembling voice, Azim asked:
“Is your mom home?”
Hearing the voice from inside, Dilshoda came out and asked anxiously:
“What’s wrong? What happened? Why are you both crying?”
With tears in her eyes, Asal sobbed:
“Auntie, please come quickly! A car hit my mom and dad! The doctors told us to fetch the adults…”
Dilshoda rushed to the hospital immediately. The doctors explained that their condition was critical and that they needed immediate surgery. Dilshoda said, “Please, do whatever surgery is necessary, just save their lives,” and took full responsibility for all the medical expenses. However, despite the operations, both patients passed away. As she lay dying, Farida wept bitterly and begged Zaynab and Dilshoda for forgiveness.
And so, Asal and Azim were left as helpless orphans in the care of their aunt. This was the tragic and mournful consequence of breaking someone’s heart and bringing misery to an innocent orphan.
Orinboyeva Zarina was born on April 1, 2011. She is a student at Secondary School No. 43 in Oqdaryo District, Samarkand Region, Uzbekistan.
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