The Scarf

• Zulaikha Noor, Grade 11, Fountain Gate Secondary College
• Short Story
• 2015

Excellence Award in the 'The Write Track 2015' competition

Saleen stood in front her mirror. In her hand was an Egyptian scarf that her late mother had bought for her. She took a long hard stare at herself. With her dyed blonde hair, blue eye contacts and fair skin, no one would’ve guessed that she was of Turkish descent and was a Muslim. She enrolled herself as ‘Selena James’ instead of ‘Saleen Johari’ in school. None of her peers knew that she was a Muslim, and she had planned that no one would ever find out.
Saleen was getting ready for school when she found the scarf lying in her closet. As she picked it up, she was instantly reminded of how rude she had reacted when her parents suggested that she should start wearing the hijab.
“Are you stupid? There’s no place for a hijab in a country like Australia!” she had screamed.
Her parents only smiled and said that she should think about it.
It was the morning of the Sydney Siege at Martin Place and to Saleen, the task of wearing a hijab seemed even more impossible. She simply threw it onto her bed and left for school.
***
Saleen had barely stepped onto the school grounds when she heard dozens of students talking about the siege. Most were worried sick for the people in the café, while others were spitting out hatred.
“GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM!” seemed to be the most popular chant.
***
As Saleen was doing her homework, she couldn’t help but replay the words of hatred that she had heard. Saleen looked over her shoulder and saw the scarf on her bed. She remembered the incident of when her mother was verbally attacked on the train because of her hijab. Saleen had been even more afraid of what would happen to her if she did start to wear the hijab.
***
It was in the early hours of the morning. Saleen’s phone beeped constantly from all the notifications she was receiving. Unable to fall asleep again, she logged onto Twitter and could not believe how much hatred was circulating.
Then, something caught her eye. #IllRideWithYou was trending number one worldwide. She clicked on the hashtag and saw numerous tweets of people supporting Muslims, and are willing to protect them at any cost. She read tweet after tweet, and slowly gained confidence in believing in her faith.
Saleen walked over to her dresser and picked up the scarf. She carefully wrapped it around her head before throwing an abaya that used to belong to her mother. She went to the front door, determined to not let a bunch of cowards destroy her faith. Saleen turned the door knob and ran out of her house. She stood in the middle of her street. She was in public with a hijab on for the first time in her life.
“I am a Muslim,” Saleen said confidently, with a huge smile on her face.