Light in the Eye of the Storm

The rain was pouring down heavily, announcing the beginning of a harsh winter.

A girl in her mid-twenties was standing there, her face showing signs of sadness

and her tears were falling as heavily as the rain. She was thinking about how bad her situation had become. She was thinking about what she had done in her life to deserve such a harsh punishment. She wanted to scream at all the men on her ID card. She wanted to get away from them if she could. She wanted to live alone, with no one thinking about her and her thinking about no one. This was Nour, a name that contrasted with her dark life. She swore not to let her life, with its black cloud, leave her. There was not a single ray of light in it.

A woman in her fifties approaches her, but she looks younger. She says reproachfully, “It's not enough.”

She quickly wipes her tears and turns to her, saying, “Enough, Mom.”

The mother calmly replies, “Crying and pain.”

Nour sadly: I'm fine, nothing's wrong.

The mother (Manal) pats her hands and says calmly: I'll pretend to believe you, but

for my sake, think about bringing Nour back to the way I know her.

Nour: God willing, then she asks: What are you doing at this time of night?

Mother seriously: I got up to pray at dawn.

Nour seriously: Okay, let's pray together.

..................................

She gets up from the floor and says: May God accept it.

Mother (Manal): What are you going to do, my dear?

Nour: I'm going to review some papers.

Manal: Okay, my dear. She continues, pleading: Come on, Nour, let's have breakfast together.

Nour smiles: Okay, I'll finish the papers and come to you.

Manal: Okay, my dear. Go on.

She goes to her room and sits at her desk, checking her papers. The only thing that distracts her from her sadness is her work, which she spends most of her time doing. After a long time, she looks at the clock hanging in her room and sees that it is eight o'clock. She exclaims: “Oh, I've been sitting here for two hours.” She goes to a certain place and finds her mother reading aloud in a beautiful, melodious voice. When she sees her, she believes in God and says, “You're done, my dear.”

Nour, exhausted: Oh, Mom.

Mother (Manal), seriously: You spend too much time at work and don't take care of your health.

Nour, apologetically: I'm sorry, sweetheart. I was reviewing my papers and designs that I'm going to present today. Then she says: And then I'm like a flower.

Manal: Okay, let's get breakfast ready.

Nour smiles: Okay. Then she asks: Where's Dad?

Manal: He's getting dressed, my dear, and he wants you to make him a cup of coffee.

Nour enthusiastically: Okay, I'll go make the best cup of coffee for the best dad in the world.

Then they go out together to the kitchen, where she prepares what he asked for and reminisces about the past.

Flashback

A person approaches her at the end of his second decade and whispers a few words to her, surprising her. She says with a big smile: What brought you here?

He smiles and says, “Your dad called me, so I came quickly to see you.”

Nour says seriously, “Aren't you the one who wants coffee?”

He says seriously, “You know I don't like drinking coffee except from your hands.”

Nour: “By the way, you're very handsome.”

The person: By the way, I love you.

She was distracted by the sound of the coffee about to spill when she found a hot tear on her cheek and wiped it away violently, as if punishing herself for going downstairs to get the cup she had prepared for the only man she loved and respected.

When he sees her, he says calmly with a smile, “Good morning, my love.”

She puts what she has in her hands on the table and runs towards him to kiss his head, saying, “Good morning, sweetest dad in the whole world.”

Mahmoud (father): Good morning, my love, dad.

Her mother comes to them happily: “Come on, let's have breakfast.”

Nour seriously: “No, sorry, Mom, I'm not hungry.”

Her mother: “You're going to have breakfast with us. Look at yourself in the mirror. How do you look?”

Nour, tired and fed up: I don't want to, Mom. I'm going to get dressed and go to work.

The mother (Manal) looks at her husband, who is silently following them, and says: Answer her, Mahmoud, because I'm tired of your daughter.

Mahmoud seriously: Leave her alone.

Manal: How can I? Look at her appearance. Do you want to kill yourself?

Nour, tired and tearful: Enough, Mom. I want to go downstairs.

Manal, angrily: Go ahead, get dressed and do what you have to do.