1
In the classroom, he glances the teacher and his stick. He whispers without looking at me “give me a ruler, my ruler is broken”
2
In the army, he glances the officer that is parading us in the courtyard. He whispers without looking at me “my shoes are not shiny as they ought to be. Will he notice that?”
3
Before reaching the revolutionaries’ checkpoint, he whispers in my ear “will the new revolutionaries stay for forty years under the pretext of revolutionary legitimacy like the General did? Or will the Islamists grab power under the pretext of establishing God’s law?”
4
In our desert excursion, we sip tea under a moon spreading its light equally on every corner. He whispers, while looking at me this time “Do you want me to put more sugar in your tea?”
2013
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* Ahmed Yousef Aqila: (b. 1958) is a renowned Libyan short storyteller, has several published short story collections and also published several books on Libyan folk tales and poetry.
* To read the original short story in the original Arabic click here
