Eight years. That’s how long my brother has been missing. Mom still sets his plate every night. Dad stopped correcting her years ago.

Tonight, she smiles at his empty chair. “You’re late.”

Dad goes pale.

A fork moves. Just slightly.

Mom smiles wider. “Eight years, and you still don’t knock.”

Fatemah Zaminpaima is a third-year student majoring in Information Systems and Business Analytics at the American University of Sharjah. She is currently enrolled into a creative writing course which reminded her of the passion she had for writing. Amongst all the chaos of business studies, this course is a breath of fresh air resulting in her to write stories again and work her mind for stories in a way she has not since 10th grade.