Prison and Garden - Alia Al-Kazemi

The clothes that used to fill my closet completely changed, replaced by many loose clothes that were two sizes bigger than my normal size! I denounced my new appearance, feeling like I was almost drowning in fabrics that were enough to accommodate my body along with another body! My mother said firmly: "You are a big girl now, and wearing modest clothes will protect you from evil eyes!" My clothes were not modest so much as they were baggy, looking like a mobile tent surrounding me wherever I went, but I had no right to object, and my fear of my mother and her anger was greater than any opinion I wished to express. She would sit with me for hours, warning me about men, about any gaze that might penetrate me, and about anyone who might try to entrap me. I became afraid of men, afraid even to smile at them; I treated them with complete grimness. Even at family gatherings, I would hide behind my mother, and I wouldn't even return their greetings, neither the old nor the young!