Houses of sorrow

Author's name: Mahmoud Ramadan Al-Samarani

The most difficult moments of loss are the path to recovery, to getting out of the predicament, to crossing into habit and then monotony. It is true that death plants a tremendous anguish within us, which is implanted in homes like a prophecy, then enters to reach the details, things, memory, time. Hadiya and her mother must overcome all of this and begin an unknown journey. Where is Faraj? No man with them. Two people carried on their shoulders.
The arduous journey yielded no results. Hadiya realized that she was about to embark on a difficult journey, thoughts pouring in, and no way out in sight. Muhammad was gone, and these absences stirred in her bitter despair. She stretched until she felt he was lost in the distance, then her thoughts returned to the man, (There is someone waiting!) This is what “Tsawahen”, Mulla Adnan’s wife, said on her last visit after his return from Baghdad. She was hinting at Mukhtar who had been cut off from them, yet he was still dying of longing for her. He had not lost hope, patient like a camel. She looked at her mother and saw her constantly listless. She thought about the destinies that appeared vague, stretched out in bed and called for sleep.