Fatima spread a giant sheet of paper across the rug. She stuck colorful face stickers around the edges. Then she wrote FAMILY TIME! in glitter pen.
She marched into the kitchen. "Help me find everyone!" Her mother glanced up, smiled, and kept chopping. "Later, habibti." The knife tapped against the board.
Fatima found her brother in his room. Headphones on, typing fast. She pulled the paper toward him. He lifted one earphone. "Can't, exam prep." The laptop clicked loudly.
She ran to the balcony. "Grandma, we need you for the family photo!" The elderly woman looked up, nodded slowly, and took her hand.
Together they walked into the living room. The grandmother clapped her hands once. A sharp sound cut through the noise. Everyone looked up.
The front door burst open. A boy in an oversized lion costume tumbled in, kazoo in hand. "Surprise parade!" He blew the kazoo. Everyone laughed.
Fatima held up her paper. "Now!" They all gathered around, some still in work clothes, some with flour on their faces.
They posed, laughing. Fatima's mother lifted the phone. The flash went off. Family Time! The paper smiled back at them all.
Later, the paper sat on the table. The glitter caught the moonlight. Every face sticker glowed — a whole family, together at last.
Fatima dreamed of next week. The paper would need new stickers. New faces to find. New families to gather.
In her dream, the stickers came alive. The face on the paper winked. Then another. Then all of them, together, calling her name.
And somewhere in the dream, she heard a kazoo. And a voice saying, habibti. Tomorrow, we find everyone again.