Chapter 2: Sahur Shenanigans 

The sound of Aiman’s Nokia 3310 alarm shattered the pre-dawn silence. Half-awake, he groped for the phone on the small bedside table. The clock read 4:50 a.m. “Is it sahur time already?” he mumbled, still halfway in a dream.

Down in the kitchen, the atmosphere was far from quiet. His mom was busy reheating last night’s leftovers while giving instructions to Sara, his older sister, and Iqbal, his 10-year-old younger brother, who looked like he was sleepwalking. Aiman shuffled into the kitchen, his hair a mess, wearing his faded Manchester United shirt.

"Wake up late, you sit at the back," Sara teased, scooping rice onto her plate.

Aiman didn’t bother to reply. He just found a seat and stared at the dishes on the table—sambal ikan bilis, fried chicken, and vegetable soup. Everything looked delicious, but his eyes were fixed on the seri muka (a traditional kuih) that his dad had brought home the night before.

“Aiman, eat your rice first. Don’t dive straight into the kuih,” his mom said, pouring hot tea into a cup.

“Oh, come on, Mak. This seri muka is like the final boss in Street Fighter. If I don’t defeat it first, I won’t feel motivated to finish everything else,” Aiman joked with a grin.

Everyone chuckled except Iqbal, who was still fighting to keep his eyes open.

While they ate, their dad switched the radio to ERA FM. The song Khadijah by Black Dog Bone played, filling the kitchen with a nostalgic vibe.

“After this, go straight to Subuh prayers, okay?” their dad reminded them.

The First Day of Fasting Survival Plan

After sahur, Aiman dragged himself back to his room. Lying on his bed, he started thinking about strategies to survive the first day of fasting, especially amidst the tempting smells of kuih and cookies at the bakery.

"I need to stay focused," he whispered to himself. “If I get thirsty, I’ll think of the Ribena in the fridge as the final villain in Tomb Raider. I can’t let it tempt me!”

He also planned to distract himself by listening to his Linkin Park and Blue cassette tapes on his Walkman during downtime at the shop.

The day ahead was bound to be a tough one—fighting off hunger, helping at the bakery, and making sure he didn’t fall asleep in the afternoon.

“I can do this,” he told himself, turning off the lights. Before falling back asleep, he smiled, thinking about the seri muka waiting for him at iftar later.