54

Porridge liar

From Republic Street, first Faisal

Between Sharif and Saudi Al-Sanadili Streets

Corona time, fireworks and firecrackers

and drugs

Porridge liar

Saida al-Khabaz gathers the leftovers of dry bread thrown on the floor of a slick Roma market after it is free of crowds every Saturday. She buys lemon, salt, hot pepper and a piece of camel fat with dirhams from her total wages of five dirhams for her work throughout the day from the call to prayer until sunset, carrying crates of vegetables and fruits on her head from On camel backs to wholesale tents.

She returns happy, her face becoming more pale and the blood in her veins has dried up, so she throws herself into the arms of the old sanctuary, drowned in the sea of wet sand next to the wall of the tent. The five girls empty a cage of leftover dry bread, lemon, salt and pepper, and a piece of camel fat. Much moldy bread, and she keeps on the good. She divides it into two halves, one half for the false porridge, and the other half she saves for the difficult days during which Saida is unable to go to the markets.

She takes a dirham from her mother, Saadat, and goes out quickly to buy a year of poppies for Thabet, may God bless her father, until he wakes up from his deep sleep and begins his night work in stitching lamelum after he lost everything he inherited from his father of profitable trade and a large vegetable tent in the middle of the market because of his addiction to poppies and the leaves of Saad that he buys every night And he hopes that he will win the trump card that will restore all that was lost.

A lady prepares a knife, cuts the lemon in half, and prepares the porridge seasoning.. Badi’a increases the ignition of the fire in the stove to heat the water with salt, which relieves my happy feet from the misery of a long day.. She returns from the dark paths, holding with all her strength the poppy seed and awakens her father after she puts the poppy seed in his mouth So he emulsifies her and wakes up to tell Saida about what was agreed upon regarding the employment of Raifa, who is fifteen years old, and Raiqah, who is a year younger than her, in the teacher’s tent, Lamlam. What he said is fixed in his temporary awakening, and she puts her feet in water and salt.

Raifa mixes the leftover dry bread with water, salt, hot pepper, and camel fat, and distributes the six loaves to start their nightly dinner journey with the lying porridge, and they go to sleep waiting for the unknown that Thabit prepares for them after every waking up every evening.

A short story written by / Mahmoud Hassan Farghaly

Member of the Writers Union

Member of the Syndicate of Film Professions

mahmoudhassanfarghaly@yahoo.com

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