Page 7 - Issue 41

ELITE Vol.1, Issue 41, March 2022

The Song of Life

Prof. Hanan M. Aly, Vice Dean For Education and

Student Affairs

He was sitting in the house’s court with many of the by missing her.
family gathered. It was then that he heard a sound of whimpering
With the sound of his mother’s whimpering coming and screaming every now and then.
from inside, suffering from her severe illness, He was alarmed, opened his eyes and listened
shrieking every while. carefully.
His heart ached, His ribs tore, His eyes burnt. He couldn’t recognize neither the sound nor its
He heard a woman referring to his mother: Poor source.
Woman…she is suffering her death throes. The sound comes intermittently, one moment it’s
It was then that he rose to his feet, desperately silent and the next it comes fast.
pleading with them to let him in. He said to himself: Am I still dreaming of my
He said: Please, Let me see my mom, let me hug mother’s voice?
her…maybe it relieves her pain. Then he turned around, looked at his window,
They refused saying: Poor child… straightened in his seat and said: No, it hasn’t
It was then that he heavily opened his eyes, holding been long ago… I have been awake… I haven’t
his chest with both hands, calming his heavy slept yet.
breathing. The sound came back interrupting his thinking.
And he hummed: May God forgive and have mercy His heart pounded sharply, and his limbs trembled

on her. violently.
He pulled worn out blankets upon himself and He remembered, He buried a woman here two
scouted around him. days ago, her family said that she had been in a
The night is still getting darker and Sleep is finding coma for two months. He dug into the ground,
its way to his eyes. buried her and closed the grave, like he does to all
The daylight unsuccessfully penetrating the dark the dead.
night. He questioned in horror: Did she wake up from
He is shifting in his sleep, his mother’s whimpering her coma?
still frightens him, and her shrieks keep him up. He stood up and decided to get out of his room
Although years have passed, he is still overwhelmed and investigate.

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