She caught her breath in delight and awe at the sea of blush-white blossoms in front of her. Apple trees covered every inch of the vast orchard, framed by eucalyptus trees around the boundary of the Hashupi Fruit Nursery. Behind the sea of white apple blossoms, and the tall bright-green eucalyptus border, rose the majestic snow-capped peaks of the Karakorum mountains.

And then she gazed down, her mouth a round “O” of wonder. There were wild yellow flowers and tall wispy white dandelions spread all across the green grass. Grass was a misnomer, she realized. Because the meadow was a mix of wild grass, herbs, and other plants. “Who in their most ignorant mind can call these weeds?” she wondered.

Here and there a magpie or a raven hopped among the wild grass, looking for worms.

She started to walk on the paved path between the trees, afraid to walk on the wild grass and kill the flowers underneath her feet.

The buzzing of the bumblebees and the honeybees was a constant background, as she walked. “Of course! The flowers can’t bear fruit without them!” she thought, recalling her Grade 5 science lessons. Pleased with her “A-ha!” moment, she vowed to look up germination when she got back to the hotel.

Every few steps, she took out her phone to take a photo, afraid that she would forget just how perfect this particular angle looked. And then she looked disappointedly at the photos, which were incapable of capturing the perfect, ethereal beauty around her.

A bird burst out in song somewhere behind her, the sound high-pitched and melodious. She looked disappointed as she reached the end of the pathway. There was no way she was done with this place yet. She abandoned all plans of the next place on her sightseeing list. “Nothing could be as perfect as this moment”.

She walked back to the gate and ordered tea. “I would like to sit among the blossoms and have tea and enjoy the view. Is that OK?”

The guard nodded “Of course!”

She walked back to the apple blossoms, grabbed a chair she found along the way, and planted it below an apple tree. She looked around. “Yup! This is the perfect, immersive view.” She settled down, taking and releasing a deep breath of contentment, the buzzing bees her soundtrack, as she looked ahead at the snow capped peaks and the beautiful blossoms.

“Thank you, Allah Mian…”

And then she started writing.