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

I replied with a nod. ‘ Ma-rrahh nekh-lass , isn’t’ this gonna end at all?’ Fury cried in a jittery protective manner, and she sat next to me, assuming the mantle of an older sister. ‘What did he do this time?’ she calmly asked. Despite the tears, I found myself smiling upon hearing her say ‘this time’, which I construed to be a barb at the angst he was invariably inducing, and which seemed to be inherent to his mode of approach on his three visits. ‘Nothing’, I replied wiping out residues of tears. I didn’t want to talk about it, but she insisted. She was like one of Saddam’s hawkish investigators, extracting every single tiny detail. I recounted, and she listened. Her face was sheathed with resentment and obvious uneasiness, which she could barely smother. Her eyes were fixed deeply on me, while she was seemingly struggling futilely to repress some words that were defiantly striving to find their way out. She drew a deep breath, and began cautiously trying to put some sense into ...