"Sofia."

Dear Ilsa,
Mama's eyes have been watery for a number of days now but not so bad.. still bearable. It used to get much more worse-- puffy, watery, and the likes-- when I was cleaning up anything dusty back at the university. Abah's coming home this weekend from his week-long working trip. Mama's cleaning the house as part of the anniversary 'surprise' (it was necessary anyway since you and I had been at Nenek's the whole week Abah's there and the furniture's collecting dust). The main clean-up focus is the 'orange room' where Abah likes to do his work on the imac there. Mama had bought him a bright orange chair with a 60's retro-like design print to match. I think he'd like that ;) Mama had bought it with Aunty Doc last thursday at ikea. She's just been transfered to another hospital and were looking for reference books near HKL.

Anyways, Mama would usually leave you at Nenek's with Bibik while working or cleaning our house. But on that thursday after coming back from ikea, upon seeing your milk supplies running low, Mama decided to bring you and Bibik along so I can feed you 'on-demand'. It was already late in the evening. By the time we finished cleaning-up, you were already restless. I have been occasionally feeding you but assumed you were hungry again and started to feed you again. You started wailing and kicking even as I did so, which wad quite uncommon. Mama felt a bit uncomfortable since it was already Maghrib and you would not stop crying even after I recited a few Quranic verses. So, Mama decided it's time to go back to Nenek's.

It turned out later that you're bored and hated to be on the lying position. Amboi-- anak Mama dah besar ek, tak nak baring dah! But the 'eerie' feeling Mama had reminded me of the 'stories' I've heard before.

People always reminded me of how satans like to disturb small children, especially babies whose 'hijab' is still unclosed to the 'other-side' of the world. Two weeks ago Abah and Mama had brought you to visit our Ayah Angkat (your Tuk Angkat) and his family at Putrajaya. This topic came up when we were talking about 'the earlier days' when we first moved to Cyberjaya in 1999. Tuk Angkat then recalled how his first daughter was always crying. I think she was about two at the time. So, one day Tuk Angkat decided to investigate. He began by making small conversation with his daughter. After he had got her talking, he aimed for the kill.
"Kenapa kakak selalu nangis?"
"Sebab kawan kakak selalu kacau."
"Kawan? Siapa nama kawan kakak tu?"
"Sofia."
"Macam mana rupa dia?"
"Dia tak mandi.."
"Macam mana kakak tau dia tak mandi?"
"Rambut dia susut susut (she wanted to say 'kusut')"
...aiyer.. it still gives Mama the chill!
We can't deny that Satan's always around us to disturb us. So, my moral for you today is:

In al-Qur'an, Allah Swt has mentioned numerous time that syaitan is our true and real enemy. Even our fore-father Nabi Adam a.s. was not spared by syaitan's wicked and cunning ways. Please bear in mind that syaitan is working round the clock, all year round irregardless of seasons, day or night and is most experienced having lived for decades. All Muslims must fight this enemy and be wary of its dubious ploy. Syaitan is with each and every one of us.. it is up to us to destroy its influence by being loyal and obedient only to Allah Swt. Only Allah Swt is our saviour.

Strengthen your 'Iman' and you'll be safe, Insya-Allah ;)
Love,
MaMA