THE LAST WAR
The appearance of the holy girl and the satanic crystal
HANAN KANAAN
The mother could no more hold back her tears. She sobbed her heart out. Tala
cried without tears. She hugged her mother affectionately while her father was
waiting anxiously around to see if nobody was spying on them or eavesdropping.
Finally, Tala freed herself from her mother’s embrace and uttered with difficulty: “
I am sorry, mum. I exaggerated. But this is the first time we separate.”
Her father tried to cheer her up by saying: “ Don’t worry! Two days will elapse
Very quickly as they were only two hours.”
After the parents hugged their only daughter, they watched her get into the house
heartbroken. They ensured that she locked and bolted the door. She waved them
goodbye from the kitchen window before she drew the curtains, and blew off the
candles.
She took a deep breath trying to gather her strength. She contemplated her parents’
photo. It was in a carved frame that lay on a well-decorated wooden table in the
corner of her room. The white lace tablecloth was the only bright thing in that
gloomy room. Tala’s parents deliberately bought dark heavy velvet curtains that
would not give curious eyes a single chance to take a peep into her room. They chose
the carpet, bedcovers, cushions and sofas that would match the curtains’ color and
Tala did not object. Deep in her heart she knew that her parents did what was best
for her. Their love for her and the sacrifice they made compensate for some
beautiful things she was deprived of.
Tala took a quick look at everything in her room. It was 23.30p.m. she closed her
eyes thinking of her beloved parents: “ they left fifteen minutes ago. They must be
on the ship that would take them to Jakarta now. I wish I could see it!”
Her father’s sentence about the city being a hideous place kept ringing in her head
like a bell. Tala kept thinking till everything in the room became a blur. She fell
asleep. She woke up in a big street. All houses and trees were set ablaze. No one
lifted a finger to put the fire out. Wandering aimlessly lost, Tala sought shelter
under the nearest pine tree. A small silver feather fell into her lap. She took it .
