Snail isolation

Reham informed me, after arriving in the town, in a garbled phone call, that she had found the remains of the marble headstone bearing her father's name, but that she had not yet located the official burial site. She said she would not return to the grave and restore it to its original state. Finally, she said, "I will not return until I write the first part of my father's biography, the part omitted from the Khatma recordings." To combat the headache that had plagued me since morning, when I heard the click of a woman's heel on the stairs, I stopped using any utensil, to check with someone. I felt a sudden unease in my ribs, coinciding with the pause. It was at the same time that Reham Semaan had come to the publishing house for the first time, a year, three months, and nineteen days earlier, explaining French vocabulary and the titles of banned books. Two days after arriving in the city, Reham informed me again in a distorted phone call that she had found the remains of her father's marble headstone, bearing his name, but that she had not yet located the actual burial site. She insisted she wouldn't return until she found it and restored it to its former glory. Then she added resolutely, "I won't come back until I write the first lines of my father's biography, which have been erased from the official records." I had prepared myself a second cup of strong tea to soothe the headache that had plagued me since morning. I was adding a teaspoon of sugar when I heard the sound of a woman's footsteps on the stairs. I stopped, halting the movement of the spoon, to determine the direction of the sound. I suddenly felt a pang of unease in my ribs as the footsteps drew closer. It was the same time that Reham Samaan had first come to the publishing house, a year, three months, and nineteen days earlier, to inquire about a French dictionary and some banned books.