Amira's Eid Morning

For a whole month, the grown-ups in Amira's family had been fasting for Ramadan. That meant they did not eat or drink from sunrise until sunset. Amira was too young to fast, but she loved helping to lay out dates and water for the evening meal.

Now Ramadan was nearly over. "Eid begins when the new moon is seen," said Baba. "Let's look tonight."

Amira stood on the balcony with her big brother, Yusuf. The sky turned orange, then pink. They looked and looked.

"There!" said Yusuf. Low in the sky was a thin silver curve, like a fingernail. Amira's cousins sent messages: they had heard the news too. Eid would be tomorrow!

That evening, Auntie Salma drew swirly henna patterns on Amira's hands. "Keep still while it dries," she said. Keeping still was very hard when you were excited.

In the morning, Amira wore her new green dress. Mama gave food to share with families who needed it, as they do before the Eid prayer. Then the family went to the mosque, where it was so busy that people were praying outside on mats in the sunshine.

Everyone greeted each other with hugs. "Eid Mubarak!" they said. Baba told Amira it means "blessed Eid."

Then came the visits. At Grandma's house there were sweet noodles cooked in milk, and little cookies filled with dates. Amira's grandparents gave each child an envelope with a little money inside, called eidi.

Amira counted her coins and decided to keep some and give some to the box for the animal shelter.

That night, she looked out at the thin moon again. "Thank you for coming," she whispered. "See you next year."

⭐ The End ⭐