It's a Sign (2023)

In the story of It's a Sign I dove into the whirlwind of a father-daughter relationship navigating cultural crossroads. When Lamya's father comes back from Morocco on a hot summer day, her world collides with the changes her father brought back from Morocco. Fearing the loss of her father once more, she tap-dances around these differences, desperate to meet his expectations.

A crucial expectation her father holds is for Lamya to uphold her faith in God. Lamya, in her quest for divine guidance, bombards the heavens with hopeful requests, convinced that signs from above hold the key to it all.

My motivation for writing this story stems from personal observations within bicultural families, including my own. I've noticed a notable difference in the expectations between parents and their children in families with a migration background. Despite parents carrying their cultural values and assumptions with well-intentioned motives, their children, raised in a bicultural milieu in a Western country, inevitably encounter alternative world views. The challenge arises in reconciling these two worlds, posing a complex process for both the parent and child.