I married the man known as the Mountain Beast.
There was no choice in that family, it was death or marriage. I, who had lived my entire life in fear of one day dying from their unusual beatings, was the only daughter of the family and thus a negative dumping ground for their faults.
"Tired from work, Father? It's alright, Noor is here so you can strike her."
"Are you fed up with the gossiping women, Mother, and Father's curses? Noor is here."
"Did you fight with your friends, Brother? Pour it out on her."
I'm a worthless girl here; ultimately, I won't benefit them. The people of that town believe a woman forgets her parents when she marries. My brother told me no one was ever happy about my arrival and considered me an ill omen for them.
These people think fate and destiny are myths, so of course, they would resent a girl and a gust of wind.
Thus, with Allah's help, I survived in that family for twenty-one years; so when that unknown suitor came from outside the town, I agreed.
I had no choice but death or marriage.
I called upon Allah, called upon Him fervently for deliverance, and who knows Allah's plans except Him; so I agreed to it, and everyone called me mad because of it.
Because the suitor was none other than a merchant from a tribe called Mountain Beasts, a merchant among their traders who came down from the mountain to the town's harbor where goods were unloaded.
The townspeople didn't mix with them, avoided them, and threw glances at them from afar, annoyed glances, hateful glances because of their different appearance, their dark skin, their massive bodies; so they called them beasts.
Of course, it was audacious for one of them to seek marriage with girls from our town; however, I'm convinced that someone heard my father once say, "Oh man, if I could just get rid of Noor, no one would ask for her, and she's over twenty. I've decided to marry her off to the first man who comes along to erase this disgrace."
Nevertheless, no one came; marriage in this town means uniting the wealth of the two families, and my family never had that. Our strength, we earned it day by day.
My father wanted to refuse; not out of love or concern for me, but due to the gossip of the townsfolk. How could he marry her off to a stranger from the worst tribe? The ignorant people of this town consider themselves more noble than the mountain dwellers, as they call them.
But there was a point where this strange suitor touched my father's heart:..
To be continued....
