It was 2 p.m. on a hot day in the middle of July. The sun wasn’t just shining; it was blazing and the road seemed to throw heat back up at the cars. Fahad sat inside his car and turned the AC dial all the way to the max. It felt as if the AC had no chance against the heat. A drop of sweat trickled down his temple, and he could feel his annoyance rising. On top of that, the cars were barely moving as the traffic jammed ahead.

Thump.

And just then, the car behind him gave his bumper a barely noticeable tap. If this had been winter, Fahad would have just shrugged and moved on. But the combination of heat and annoyance made his temper rise as he put his car in park, unclicked his seatbelt and threw the car door open.

The sun slapped his face as he got out to see the driver, Umair, also getting out of his car. His shirt looked as if it had been crisp once and his face was red.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going, man!” Fahad started. “Can you not see the bright red brake lights right in front of you?”

“Oh, so now it’s my fault?” Umair shot back, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. “Who brakes that suddenly on an open road?”

“Open road? We are literally moving at the speed of a tortoise!” Fahad yelled back as he gestured at the absolute standstill around them. They had now moved into the two-foot space between their cars, both ready to fight.

“Look at this!” Fahad pointed at his bumper. “You could have scratched the paint.”

Umair bent down as he squinted through the glare. “My guy, that is a smudge of dust. Your car is dirtier than my conscience right now,” he said as he ran his finger across the smudge.

Just then, a massive delivery truck behind Umair’s car started blaring its horn. It was then that they both realised the traffic had cleared up ahead, and the horn seemed to shake them out of their anger.

Fahad looked at the truck, then at Umair and let out a sigh.

“Look, sorry, man. I overreacted. The sun just made me act up.”

Umair blinked, his anger also cooling fast. “Honestly? Same. I shouldn’t have jumped out of the car. And sorry for the bump. We good?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” Fahad said, shaking his hand.

“Now, let’s get back inside before we get heatstroke!” Umair said with a smile.

They both hurried back into their cars just as three more vehicles started honking behind them.

Fahad put the car in drive, took a sip of water from his water bottle and actually laughed a little. It was still incredibly hot, but somehow, the drive didn’t feel quite as bad anymore.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 19th, 2026