The Forbidden Kiss

By Gulchaman

Sara took Sabir’s soft hand while looking into his eyes and said, “Sabir, I love you.”

When Sabir heard Sara’s words, he was so happy and excited. He held her close and touched her long black hair. He whispered, “I love you too.”

Then, unable to hide his strong feelings, he yelled, “I love Sara! She is my girlfriend, and no one can stop me from loving her. It is our lives, destiny, and decision. Only we make decisions for ourselves.”

“Yes,” Sara said. “We are the prince and princess of our own lives. We will write our own story with our own hands.”

Sabir and Sara were alone in the Shahrak Sabs of Kabul between flourishing mountains. It was spring, the season of flowers blooming and trees budding. It was magical and lovely. The soft breeze blew Sara’s hair. The sky was light blue, and the sun was concealed by white clouds. Sunlight streaked between the clouds, making the sky more interesting and magical. The birds sang as if they were happy too. It seemed that they danced and sang just for Sara and Sabir.

Sara kissed Sabir’s lips passionately even though she knew it was forbidden. In Afghanistan, lovers cannot kiss each other or flirt with each other. These things were a big crime in their culture. They would both be killed, and Sara would be stoned. It would be considered especially bad if they were touching and kissing since they were not married or even engaged. But even married couples were not allowed to kiss in front of others. It was odd that in their country loving someone and showing your feelings was forbidden but killing was lawful.

Sabir kissed Sara until their hearts were pounding. Suddenly, they noticed they were surrounded by many people who clapped for them. The young couple were shocked and afraid. Instead of running away, Sara, thanked the people for applauding and the people walked away, leaving Sara alone with Sabir again.

The couple held hands and walked away together. The went on a long hike and when it became dark, they stopped for some rest. They went to sleep watching the stars and moon overhead.

Suddenly, Sara heard a harsh sound. She opened her eyes and felt frightened. Her face was wet with sweat. Sara listened again and realized the sound was her father’s voice calling her loudly. That’s when she knew it was a dream after all. Sabir was her classmate but not her lover.

Her father entered her room and shouted, “Sara! Are you deaf?! Hurry up and go to the kitchen and help your mother. Bring me breakfast soon!”

Sara was still thinking about her dream about Sabir and didn’t move quickly enough and her father kicked her in the back. She barely felt the pain as she went to the kitchen, then brought her father breakfast. He ate and then left without saying anything, even thank you.

Later, Sara was studying her school lessons when she heard music. She asked her mom where it was coming from. Her mother replied that there was an engagement party in the street for Sabir. When Sara heard this painful news, she nearly fell over, but she was strong and controlled herself.

She returned to her room and her uncontrollable tears came down her cheeks. She felt the pain of losing her lover, even though it had only been a dream. It was even more painful because she could not talk about her love to someone or to her lover because she might be killed.

Her father was a religious extremist, and she was sure he would kill her for falling in love, and others would want to do the same. She felt the pain deeply in her bones. But she was not afraid of death.

On the other hand, she wanted to live because she had dreams and goals. She wanted to study and become a writer and write about human rights and women’s rights. She wanted to combat ignorance. She wanted to advocate for the rights of the next generation. She wanted to advocate for the forbidden kiss. She told herself: Sara you are strong and one day you can change the forbidden kiss into a lawful one.