Hind Jendara, Meknes

When the night falls, it brings with it the misfortunes, the sorrows, and the dreary memories which leave their dungeons to metamorphose in sky’s darkness. It was almost 4 am, and at that time it was impossible to go back, abandon or stop this bloody story that will start in a few moments. Nightmare! And everything mingles between the chopped waves of sleep. Brutally torn from the dream by the deafening roar of her cry, Alice opened her eyes and jumped from her bed, on the bedside table, she saw a small piece of paper on which was written words she could not decipher. She rubbed her eyes, wiped the sweat from her face and read in terror: “don’t tell mommy” Awake this time, Alice realized that she was re-reading the same sentence for the first time, and then the paper suddenly disappeared. Vaguely uncomfortable, she got up, slid the window open, these little words still floating in her head and the fresh air of spring caressed her flesh. She turned back to her bed, but the images that lurked in her head haunted her and prevented her from gaining the few hours of sleep that remained before her workday started.

Alice put down the pencil and slammed the laptop shut, her hand holding her baby bump; she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It is time to go back home, today was full and dull, and stress is not good for neither her nor her baby. Along the way, they listened to the vigorous radio preaching at a low volume, one route to saving our species, the prime minister has declared a month-long state of emergency in response to the pandemic spreading all over the country. One month to go, get some rest Alice, get some. The aromas wafting in the kitchen filled the air of a cozy feeling and apparently filled her ribs too. She knew for sure that by this time, the course of her life and her baby’s will drastically change.

The only sound she remembered after calling the coronavirus hotline was the ambulance siren on its long journey to the downtown hospital. There were a couple of hours where she was within a whisper of a dark place. There, loads of tests were being carried out and swabs were being taken, waiting for her PCR test result, Alice thought “maybe my time is up “. The next day she was the added number of the infected cases. Laying on her bed in an isolated hospital room, she was literally gasping for air, no one was allowed to see her, she would buzz for help and would have to wait for staff to get their protective equipment on before they could attend to her, this young desperate woman was a warrior in a double battle, she was fighting for every single breath. She was fighting for hers and her baby's life. A week later, the boatman of the River Styx suddenly opened the hospital door, firmly destined to Alice’s

room, transformed the floor into a big dirty lake, took the corpse holding a crossbow bolt and

ran away.

Everything in the sickbay got back to normal, doctors walking along, and patients wheeled to this red zone. Down the hall, at the end of the corridor, the hospital rooms are juxtaposed, multiplied, lengthened and condensed into one, that of Alice. Once you enter, only you and I can hear Alice’s baby screaming; only you and I can read the writing on the wall “this is the place where death rejoices in teaching the living”. By this moment, Alice was taken away to a land where she was drawing any unlucky passersby into a ghoulish dance of death, leaving her baby alive, alone in the dark telling you the rest of the story. “Mommy is dead, but don’t worry, I am here.”

I never had an actual interaction with my mom; I’m still an unborn piece of human, right. But I somehow know how loving she is, I also know about my older sister, her name is Anny. When mom left the home that night, Anny stayed with mom’s grandma, she was crying so hard that her throat probably started hurting, granny is old and sick, no one would take care of them, that’s for sure. I am just a little fetus, but I know that pans are so hot, and Anny will get her fingers burned if she tries to cook. I want you to look around you, the children are always screaming, the men always cussing and women are always yelling about something. While you are now ready to feel about the miserable situation you and all your friends and acquaintances are going through, I see that one little tear of my sister, that tiny, salty, droplet of moisture pouring on the pan and boiling.

O human race, o doomed destiny. Hours fly... Friends die.

Mom dancing outside, humans you must collide. Get away from each other today or you’ll flow till doomsday. Don’t tell mommy, don’t tell her I am thrown away. Rub a dub, voices howling, the tone got intense, people dancing, mom’s crawling. Don’t tell mommy, don’t tell her baby is thrown away. Don’t tell her, her sadness won’t fade away. In a panic, she began to crawl toward the front door: “ what a nightmare”, she mumbled. It was, five past eight, the feeling of crisp, cold air on her face and the breeze felt amazing. She showered, changed into her new outfit and went to check on her grandma. She snuck downstairs to prepare breakfast. Alice brought a bottle of kvass to the table while telling her grandma about the nasty dream she had. “During the bubonic plague, my mother had the same nightmare, your message came up to the surface honey”, said granny. Alice spent the rest of the month with her family admiring the beauty of the smallest things.