intifada

29 / 02 / 2008, 31 : 08 PM

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By: Talaat skairek

Rain fell heavily on the pavement. Moving swiftly towards the house, she wondered, " Will I find him?" Her eyes were filled with worry and confusion. She remembered how he used to laugh and shake his head continuously as he listened to her. She told him the street news, with all details, big and small, and this made him feel that the camp was
'Haettenschweiler','sans-serif']a world full of marvel anecdotes. He used to look meditating into her eyes, and the camp would take a new shape, as if drawn with her restless plume.
"Do you know?" , she asked with vigorous curiosity. He did not answer . His mind was racing along many tracks at the same time. He began to talk to himself. " In a few weeks, Fatima will give birth to your first child ... it will be..!"
"What's the matter" Fatima exclaimed, interrupting this chain of thought, "what are you thinking of?" He knew she would be left alone, completely alone. He continued, as if the first part of the sentence had been cut short, " if I happen to go anyway, my absence won't be long".
"Absence?" she asked with painful anxiety. Again, he did not answer.
Rain covered all the distances, and faces seemed to reflect' streets and lanes in whatever way they wished. " Here they are.." Suddenly, the room was full of children, -laughing happily and running around. One of them said: "Your son,- uncle Abdul Rahman , will be with us .. Don't be afraid. He'll
grow very quickly" . "In fact," he said, "I'm not afraid.. But Fatima will feel lonely.. that's what's bothering me..."
" The child will be with her", another child exclaimed, " you go on..". He nodded in agreement. The children left happily..., and the room returned to its previous tranquility.
A thousand times they've told her, "He'll be out tomorrow"; and she would wait endlessly . The street was full of news and active movement ... The cries of the newly-born baby filled the whole camp, from one end to the other. The day he was born the whole camp blessed it.
" How happy Abdul Rahman will be with his son!", they have told her.
But Abdul Rahman spend day after day in absence without end. She whispered to her baby," If had his freedom, he'd fly to .us with swift wings .." She looked into the baby's eyes , and saw warmth, smiles and trees swaying gently in the refreshing breeze." It's him !" , she whispered to herself. " He looks like his father! A small smile emerged on the two tiny lips, fluttering. "WE have right" she exploded, "to live like other people , other human beings... They confiscate everything!"
Abdul Rahman nodded in agreement. But he smiled and said," Freedom is coming Fatima, a few steps and the sun of salvation shall rise.."
He put his head on her stomach and began to talk to the unborn child about the homeland , the beautiful pictures and the coming fertile spring. "Do you want him to understand," She chided, "Before he comes to the world?"
"Believe me", he exclaimed statically, " he already understands everything!" He rumbled on, telling the hidden embryo long, wonderful stories, with a warm spontaneous tone of inner contentment.

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The distance stretched in the rain. She thought she heard Abdul Rahman's voice playing with his child.. She then imagined how great and wonderful his happiness would be if she found him at home.
" The absence has been so big, Oh, Abdul Rahman, she would say to him; and as usual he would retort, "The way is long , Fatima, and we've got to walk alone". Then he would laugh with an optimism that could fill the whole world. As she approached, the rain-covered distance became enhanced, stretching to the far horizon. She thought she would say, "Our son is wonderful, isn't he, Abdul Rahman?".
He would laugh, she went long with her imagination, and his smile would extend to fill the whole world. He carried the babe in his arms, throwing him high in the air; The stone cut open the night's brow: he received the babe embracing him with a love larger than life...
She would tell her husband so many stories; and she would beg him to stay with them. He would only nod, as usual, and laugh.
The door was within reach. She pushed it eagerly, expectantly, and swiftly stepped inside ....
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