We walked past Bronte Street along rows of shops at Greenheys Lane and caught a yellow coloured wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man located in front one of the sundry shops, swaying its boneless body around, provoking me for a dance off.

"I need to do that," I said to Nick, pointing at the tube man.

"Are you sure? Or is your inner demon doing the talking?" Nick asked suspiciously.

"No, I need to do a dance off with that thing or else I'm gonna lose," I rushed towards the failing tube like an eager child seeing a playground for the first time.

Nick looked worried at first but allowed in as I positioned myself next to the skydancer, swaying my torso and my arms from left to right, back and forth aimlessly. I pivoted around and felt endorphins in my glands emerged and danced along with me, leaving me to feel carefree. The horrific images soon disappeared in my mind, as I danced around in ecstasy while Nick watched me from afar like I'm a piece of art in a gallery, with his light-up cigarette between his fingers.

Then a couple of passersby in their early 40s gawking at me as though I'm a weird person.

"What's wrong?" Nick snarled at them. "You never seen a shaman conjuring the dead before?"

The couple briskly shuffled away which made me realise that I was being a complete fool. I stopped swaying and looked at him, feeling drained.

"Why did you stop?" Nick asked in astonishment. "I was beginning to feel the presence of the underworld."

"I think I had enough," I panted.

"Okay. Who won the dance off?" he asked sarcastically.

We walked along Burlington Street when we heard the adhan (call of prayer) of Zuhr resonate from speakers of McDougall's Prayer Hall as we passed the building. Nick stopped to the sound and turned to me.

"Is this your mosque?" he asked.

"Yeah, well it's the university prayer hall," I answered.

"Go ahead, perform your prayers," he urged.

"I can do it at home," I answered quietly.

"It's gonna be another 20 minutes' walk to your flat. We might not be able to make it," Nick said.

"Stop exaggerating," I said. "Asr will come in another three hours, I still have time."

"Why wait when you can do it now? You need your God's redemption, aint' it?" he pointed out. "Go ahead. I'll wait."

"I didn't bring my prayer garments," I excused.

He groaned exasperatedly, eyes rolled upwards while pulling out his long and wide tartan neck scarf to cover my head. The scent of Tom Ford Oud Wood on his scarf rubbed on my nose as he tried to wrap it around my head like a hijab, securing it with a safety pin that was attached to it.

"Aren't you a divine specimen?" he took a step back, admiring his artwork. "Now, run along."

The ladies' prayer hall is a different room, separated from the men's and the ladies' prayers were guided by only the imam's voice through its speaker. It's a small room enough to fit a dozen of girls in it. Ablution and toilet were connected to the prayer hall in a separate area.

The prayer was brief and the imam didn't immediately recite any duas or tasbih after we conveyed our salam at the final rakaat, so some girls recited dua on their own while some including me swiftly left the building after the salam.

I saw Nick outside by the entrance of the prayer hall, smoking his fag while chatting with one of the guys from the Islamic Society. I wasn't really sure if it was a friendly discussion or otherwise but the guy whom he talked to looked rather pleased to see him, as though they've known each other for quite some time.

"He was my classmate, Sayed," Nick verified.

"What did you two talk about?" I asked curiously.

"The typical conversations between two friends," he said.

"Oh, he's your friend and I'm not," I retorted and Nick laughed at my silliness.

"Do you really don't believe in Allah or any other gods, Nick?" I asked boldly.

"Not really, I don't," he answered honestly. "I accepted the theory but not the existence,"

"Why? If I may ask."

"Simply because He didn't come to my prayers," he answered. "I once prayed endlessly for my mother's health and safety. In fact, I prayed for many reasons but none of them were answered. So, I stopped believing in Him." I opened my mouth to argue but I decided to hold my tongue. "It's okay, go on. You want to say something," he said.

"Does it occur to you that the reason why we pray is not for the purpose of solely seeking something from God, but to also offer our devotion to the Almighty?" I questioned.

"I'm not sure I agree with you on that," Nick argued. "You see, my devotion is to myself. Because when I'm at loss, God didn't help me. And my success was solely based on my own set of skills and strategies and perfect timing. What I did to achieve where I am today was purely based on logic, not by some sort of miracles descended from God because I never asked any of His help."

"But these logics, your intelligence and perfect timing exist with God's permission," I countered. "I don't want to argue too much about God in detail because I'm not that pious either. But when you perform your prayers, you're getting an opportunity to speak to the All-Powerful God who created everything in this universe. It's like entering 30 Seconds To Mars concert where you can gain access to meet Jared Leto in person. Not only that, it will bring a lasting effect of purity in your heart when done properly.

"From the bottom of my heart, I sympathised with what you've gone through. Seriously, I do. You lost your mom, you lost hope, you were angry. Hey, I lost my mom too, but I also lost my dad and my brother. You see, all of us are going through pain and suffering, some were more hurtful than others. But God doesn't burden a soul beyond that it can bear. You need to understand that every hardship that we faced in life is a test of patience, devotion and trust in God. If something was taken from us, it means we're strong enough to handle it. And God already promised us for a better future, a better life in return. So, when you are up on your own, it was God's doing. God doesn't tell you that, of course. You'll be freaking out if He personally reaches out to you and tells you that."