i s h t a r r i a........

My train of thoughts was interrupted when, stealthily, mum opened the door checking on her girl, as was her custom every morning, to ensure I was properly wrapped up against the chilliness of the room. She opened her eyes wide with astonishment upon realizing that I was already up at that uncommonly early hour. Mum was hopeful that my sudden enthusiasm of the day before for work may have diminished through the hours of the night. Her face, however, didn’t reflect the least bit of satisfaction upon realizing otherwise. She hugged me kissing my head while she sat on the edge of my bed. ‘Now that you’re awake, come then and breakfast with me’, she urged, taking advantage of the rare opportunity. Dad had already left for work. My brothers were eating rice with the angels, in keeping with an Egyptian metaphor that has become a pan- Arabic saying to suggest profound sleep. Not infrequently on school holidays, they would not retire to bed before kissing the sun’s first rays good morning, hav...