Karimba (Palakkad): The English exam had been easy, but their minds were preoccupied with the Hindi exam on Friday. Sharing their nervous anticipation, five friends walked home from school, their chatter interspersed with laughter.

During their walk, Nida handed her umbrella to Ajna since her own bag didn’t have enough space for the wet umbrella. Soon after, Rida asked Ajna to hold her writing pad as well.

Rida, meanwhile, had Ajna’s pencil box in her bag and reminded her to take it back once they got home. But fate had other plans. All of a sudden, the lives of four among them had been cruelly snatched away, leaving the umbrella and writing pad in Ajna’s hands, along with an unbearable weight of memories.

The group of inseparable friends, Nida Fathima, Rida Fathima, Irfana Sherin, AS Ayisha, and Ajna, were returning home after their exam at Karimba Higher Secondary School. When a speeding truck rammed into them, Nida, Rida, Irfana, and Ayisha lost their lives, leaving Ajna as the lone survivor.

Ayisha was a student of Class 8E, while the others were in Class 8D. The five girls always walked to and fro the school together. On the fateful day, Irfana had been told her mother, Farisa, would be waiting at Panayambadam to take her to the dentist. Just as Irfana spotted her mother waiting by the roadside, the speeding truck struck.

Ajna survived , flung aside by the impact of the collision. As she regained her senses, she saw a cement-laden truck overturned on the road, thick dust clouding the air. The scene was chaotic as locals rushed to help, but Ajna stood there trembling, unable to process what had just happened. Even after reaching home, the trauma of the horrific accident stayed with her. She couldn’t stop crying, haunted by the devastating loss of her friends.