Zahraliza by Abdelouahid stitou - HTML preview

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2

It was a new morning. Actually it was not entirely new; it was similar to the preceding ones. The only new thing was that he would lose a new day of his life, and his debts would increase in the debts book of the grocer of the neighborhood.

The first thing he did was turning on his computer as he used to do. He got up, lumbered to the bathroom and washed his face quickly in an attempt to ignore the freezing water. He rubbed his face and looked in the broken mirror that was full with stains. He spent some few minutes until he could see his whole face because the remaining piece was no more than a few centimeters.

He descended the worn stairs whose layout he knew by heart. He prepared himself to one of the moments that he detested; he asked the grocer to give him a piece of cheese and a pack of tea and feigned indifference. He tried to stroke the nose of a child near him who almost bit his finger. He heard the grocer mumbling some words that his debts were increasing significantly and it was time he stopped this non-sense. He did not even try to turn to face him as he was extending his hand to take his order as if he heard nothing.

His pride was abandoning him gradually. He became unwelcomed in a lot of places whether he liked it or not. He wondered what other disasters life would force him to commit.

He bought a piece of “hursheh” food with the last three dirhams he had. He then went home to spend his best time in his virtual world where nobody knew him excepts for very few people. Nobody knew that he was unemployed, that he was in debt, and that his hands were tied.

The blue world untied them again. Despite that he was carrying the cup in one hand and the piece of hursheh in the other, his fingers were moving smoothly on the keyboard.

He commented on some new events and was thinking about a suitable idea to describe his situation. He heard the sound of a water drop falling into a bucket.It was the notification sound of a new Facebook instant message.

Good morning.
Good morning.
Do you remember me?
Of course. The pedant commenter? (Kidding)
Yes. This’s me. How are you doing?
I’m fine. I have everything I need at the moment.
I like it that you can chat in standard Arabic. ‘Franco-Arabic’ that some people use does irritate me. (That mixture between Arabic and French).
I still find chatting in formal Arabic completely enjoying.
I’m like you.
Are you still angry at me?
Not at all.
Happy to know that.
I’m happy to know you, too.
I’m not one of those people who ask others to tell them their life story, but I do hope to know more about you.
It’s difficult to do that when you have a photo of an Indian actress as your profile picture; you might be a man who finds it amusing to chat with me.
Do you need to convince me that your profile picture is actually yours?
Not at all. Why shall I do that? It’s your business believe it or not.
Ok. Do not get angry. You really look handsome.
I have nothing to do with that actually.
Being modest?
I actually understand how pointless it’s to admire something I had nothing to make!
Well. I promise you I’ll set my own picture as my profile picture next time. I have to go now.
No problem. Bye.

Silence filled the room again. The e-noise ended as it started, and he felt a bit lonely. He could not understand how that unknown person filled suddenly his world. He was not a hasty person; he had gone through too many experiences that he hated hastiness. He, deep within, confessed that there was something peculiar and strange in that woman. To set himself free from these thoughts, he made a small sound to call for a cat and went towards a corner he figurative called ‘the kitchen’. A cat came stumbling from somewhere. It was a lame, one-eyed cat. This is why he actually decided to keep it. He always hated those people who only took care of only those beautiful cats. What about the ugly and sick ones? What crimes had they committed?

The truth is that people feign gentility and humanity while all they need is to please themselves before others even when those others are animals. “Oh my God! Look how cute she is!” he thought that a woman would say while clasping her hands on her chest as if she were an angel. Only because the cat is beautiful she actually takes care of it. Weird logic! The truth is she needs to appear as a gentle person at the expense of the cat. This hypocrisy of people made him sick. He kneeled and put the yellow piece of cheese near the cat that started licking it in gratitude. He stroked her head and went back to his blue world.