door threshold

Pain has its threshold. Madness has its threshold. Love and homelands have their thresholds. And happiness is playful. Don't Egyptians believe in "changing the threshold" to rid themselves of bad luck and misery? The threshold... vast is that which separates two worlds, and the support of that necessary task to cross it. Laura gathers her steps, grits down on the pain, and stands tall like a spear, as she has done for many years. One step and it's all over. Life here has become completely... what will she carry with her? The one who will hear Mania's name for the first time? All the times Karim laughed? Does she hide the scent of Damascus jasmine between the pores of her skin? And the taste of the bread she can't get enough of, how will she preserve it? She will leave behind the inevitability of her recent arguments with Anas and the environmental medications she started taking some time ago. She will leave behind the images of two children who will never wake up, and houses where not a stone remains upon another. She will leave behind the desolation of a life that is no longer what it once was, and she will move on. She has nothing left but to cross the threshold. Just to cross the threshold. Pain has its threshold. Madness has a threshold. Love and homelands have a threshold too. And happiness has a threshold. Don't Egyptians believe in the power of "changing the threshold" to liberate oneself from misery and wretchedness? The threshold is like a vast barrier separating two worlds, and crossing it requires a heavy step. Lour gathers her resolve, clenches her jaw against the pain, and stands firm as a spear, as she has been for the past four years. With one step, it will all be over. Life in this place has become unbearable. What will she take with her? That paper on which Mania first wrote her name? The echoes of Karim's laughter? Will she hide the scent of Damascene jasmine in the pores of her skin? And how can she cling to the taste of bread that no one can satisfy? Certainly, she will leave behind her last arguments with Anas, and the bitter medicines she endured. She will bid farewell to the images of sleeping children who will never wake up, and the houses where not one stone is upon another. She will leave behind a life that is no longer what it once was, and she will move on. All she has to do is cross that threshold. Just cross the threshold.