Mall Festival

Malik held Fatima’s small hand while crossing the busy street. Each pedestrian who crossed had a destination on their mind. Their moods matched the warm summer weather. The hazy sun smiled down at each person providing them warmth on their skin and their body. Malik and his daughter rushed to the mall to see the annual festival that celebrated the first day of summer. All the stores inside were closed and they had water games for the kids and adults. Some of the games were a rollercoaster, two large pools and water gun fight.

“We’re going to be a little late,” Malik looked down at his daughter who hurried along with him. On his other hand, he held a bag with a change of clothes for themselves. A continuous water slide went down the escalators from the fourth floor to the first. 

“Yes daddy. Hurry,” Fatima said, pulling her dad’s hand as she ran towards the mall. 

Malik smiled and scooped her off the ground and ran towards the mall as the sun continued to beat down, slowing him until he stopped at the line outside the mall. A line that Malik expected each year—there was no cost of entrance nor limitation on how long one could stay.

He brought down Fatima and held her hands before she could run off. 

“I wanna see in,” Fatima looked up at her dad as she pouted her face. Malik’s face dripped with sweat and his white shirt had stains of sweat throughout. 

“We will, soon, sweetheart,” Malik said, more eager than Fatima to get inside. Even though they were under the shade, running was something he regretted. His body slowly stopped sweating but his white shirt remained soaked with sweat.

A rush of cold air kissed each person’s face as they walked inside the glass, front doors. The workers closed the doors immediately after, making sure the refrigerated air remained inside. Before anyone started walking around the Mall, they stood by the door allowing their body to take in the fridge air. Elderly sat near the door looking at all the water games available for adults and children. 

After a minute or two of soaking the cold air, they were ready to jump into the fun activities. The stores were locked and covered from the bottom to the top—making sure no water entered. Malik and Fatima went to a locker room—the mall built solely built for the festival—and placed their bag inside the locker. They left their shoes and socks inside the locker—only the elderly and anyone else who sat near the front doors were allowed to wear their sandals or shoes. 

Malik and Fatima went up the stairs to the fourth floor where the food courts got replaced by two large pool on each side of the floor. They went to the men’s pool, since Fatima was young she was allowed to stay with Malik. Malik jumped inside the pool but Fatima refused to go in, like every other year. He was determined to teach her to swim that year. Even if it took hours. He knew one day she would have to go to the women’s pool on the opposite side of the fourth floor. The pools weren’t large enough to house all the swimmer so the mall owners decided to have two pools, one for the men and the other for women. 

Malik’s determination allowed him to teach her and she was happy at the end after almost a half hour of crying. His determination converted to confidence for Fatima. She believed as if she could do anything—even the impossible. Her confidence soon dissipated when she almost tripped and fell down the slide, face-first.

The two of them made their way carefully down the slide, previously the escalators, to the third floor. For the next few hours, Fatima and Malik played with all the water games available even had a water gun fight in the second floor. Malik felt like he was twenty years old, enjoying the water gun flight, as if he wasn’t in his early thirties. 

Fifteen-years-later.

Malik and Fatima each held an umbrella over their head as they went to the annual Mall Festival. It became a tradition they would sacrifice anything for. They made no plans on the first day of the summer since the mall became reserved for it every year. Both were proud to have come every year ever since they started over fifteen years ago.  

Fatima’s friends invited her to a college graduation cruise that was all-expenses-paid-for but Fatima declined the offer so she wouldn’t miss Mall Festival with her dad. She never regretted it.

“How long do you think this will continue?” Fatima asked her dad. He no longer had the strength he did when they attended the first Mall Festival.  

“As long as I’m alive and you’re willing to go,” Malik smiled as their green eyes connected. 

They rushed to the Mall under the heavy downpour. Strong wind accompanied the downpour; the humid air made their shirts stick to their skin as if their shirts were soaked. Once they arrived, there was no line but the doors were shut until they arrived closer. Two workers opened the doors for Malik and Fatima. They closed their umbrellas as they made their way inside. 

“Thank you,” Malik said, to the workers. The cold air felt great as it cooled their sticky skin. 

They dropped off their umbrellas and bag in the lockers and walked barefoot towards the fun. Though every year that went by, it became less fun for Malik but he enjoyed having one day a year he could spend it entirely with his daughter. Even for Fatima who loved the tradition, felt it was no longer the same. 

Fifteen-years-later.

Over thirty years of continuing the tradition, Malik and Fatima only missed the Mall Festival once. One year the mall didn’t open as the entire country went on lockdown due to a contagious virus. Malik was now a senior and Fatima had her third child a few months prior. She moved out when she got married but continued to travel back to her parent’s home every year for Mall Festival.

Fatima held Malik’s hand as they crossed the street. They were setting record heat in their city for the first day of the summer. On her other hand, she held an umbrella over Malik, protecting him from the sun’s burning rays. They no longer brought a change of clothes—in fact, neither Malik nor Fatima participated in any of the activities. By the time Fatima arrived, her muscles felt fatigue as if she had just ran around the city a hundred times.

The two sat at the comfortable chairs by the entrance for a few minutes to gather their energy as the air-conditioned air kissed their sweaty faces. For the past few years, they walked around the mall starting with the top floor and then made their way back down the stairs. Malik was too weak to enjoy the games, and for Fatima, she didn’t want to be alone, plus she didn’t mind sitting with her dad. Once they made their walk around the mall, Fatima and Malik sat at the front of the mall watching everyone else enjoy Mall Festival and reminiscing all the memories they had.