This is the story of Pop and if you want to know what happens next, then you have to listen.

Long before the advent of human civilization, an over-protective, snarly and gruffly creature walked the earth. He was named Pop. Pop felt alone and sad and so he pleaded before the Almighty to give him the gift of daughterhood. The Almighty created two baby girls- one out of the scorching and intense glint of fire and the other out of the strong and mighty gust of wind. One was called Jamila and she was as beautiful and warm as the summer sun and the other was called Zaynab because she was as delicate and fragrant as the newborn saplings and shrubs that strode along with an autumn breeze.

Pop knew he couldn’t raise the two on his own. So once again he knelt before The Lord himself and sent a plea to the seventh heaven that The Lord shall be so benevolent to bestow upon him a guardian to help him nurture his children.

God endowed the two young girls with a fairy godmother as affectionate and caressing as the sea is to the shore. While Pop would venture out of their chrysalis to explore the wild for nuts, berries and nectar, the fairy godmother would look after the children and tell them stories of how Goldilocks got lost in the forest when she disobeyed her mother and stayed out past curfew.

And when the fairy godmother was out chopping wood and collecting dry foliage to build a shelter for the little ones, Pop would play with the children and tease them around. He would teach them how to fight dark creatures with the help of toy dummies and pillows and how to run as fast as they could when being chased by wild animals with a game called Cave-to-Cave. He taught them how to pick fruits by telling them apart by the different shades of colours. This is only between us- Pop was poor at differentiating one colour from the other. But with the help of the fairy, he accomplished teaching his children this colourful lesson. Together, Pop with his small clan would watch the sunset and his children would point out the nuances of crimson and cerulean, tints of vermillion and blushes of fuchsia. And even though Pop didn’t know what they were going on about, he would nod along and praise them for their talents.

Pop loved his children. He would braid their hair and brush their teeth with the daintiest twigs and most herbal pastes. When winter would fall, he’d spark a flame and rub their palms to keep them warm. He would bathe them and kiss them goodnight every single night when their godmother was taming the sea and nourishing the plants.

When Jamila and Zaynab were getting dressed for hunting lessons, he helped them and tied their sandals with jute string and polished them with coal.

Pop took his daughters out to play and taught them various sports. Even when his youngest daughter, sucked at playing it, he never lost hope that one day she might suck a little less.

Zaynab smelled of wild shrubs and the most scented and sweet-smelling petals, so bees and insects were often attracted to her. Pop kept her safe and drove all the insects out and guarded his daughter against bugs and pests.

After new beings and creatures came to settle down near Pop’s civilization, Pop felt a little threatened because Jamila, being the eldest and the prettiest maiden, was constantly attacked by beings of the opposite gender. Pop defended his daughter from any intruders and kept her safe.