Ghazal Mhanna, 15 — Trainers’ Academy, Tulkarm
He sat on his bench in the garden sipping his coffee quietly, enjoying the warm sunshine and the gentle spring breeze. Usaid glanced towards the wall to find that its shadow had disappeared…
I See Myself in You
Ritaj Younis al-Ja’afra, 15 — Tarqumiyah
“Stop!” I heard the guard standing outside my office door shout in anger, but she did not stop. She opened my office door and burst in, crying and calling out, “Let me see her, let me see her.” She was a girl of fifteen, her clothes nearly threadbare, yet she was extraordinarily beautiful. She came towards me, held out her hand and said, “I need some money, madam. I’m hungry.”
When I looked into her eyes and saw the sorrow that lived in them, she reminded me of myself when I was her age, unable to afford a meal after my parents died in a traffic accident and I was left alone. I remembered the kind man who helped me, adopted me and considered me his daughter. I remembered how I lived with him until he departed this life, having left me all his property. My life was utterly transformed — I became the youngest and wealthiest businesswoman, running the largest construction company in the city.
I calmed her, sat her down and asked her to tell me her story.
“My name is Amal. I was my mother and father’s only child. My father was very poor, and when I turned fourteen my aunt asked for me as a wife for her son. Of course I refused — I was still young, I didn’t know what marriage was, I couldn’t look after a house and a family. But my aunt tempted my father with money. She’s a wealthy woman with a great deal of money, and so my father agreed to marry me to my aunt’s son. They set a date for the wedding and arranged everything. The day before the appointed date, at dawn, I crept out of the house and ran away. I begged in the streets, I slept in alleyways, I suffered terribly. When all roads closed before me, I decided to come here to ask for help. Some of the others begging on the streets told me you’re a young woman with a kind heart who loves to help those in need… and I am in need.”
“By God, I see myself in you… Stay here for just half an hour, and then we’ll leave together.”
So I took her home with me. There the servants had prepared a table of every delight: meat and fish, grilled meats, vegetables, fruit and sweets. She ate mindlessly, ate and ate until it seemed to me there was no longer room for a single morsel in her stomach. Then she slumped back in her chair and fell asleep.
My maid helped me carry her to one of the rooms, where we laid her on the bed. The next morning I left for work after instructing the maid to care for her, wash her and dress her in the finest clothes until I returned. When I came home from work, I saw the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. She was radiant as the sun in her yellow dress and long black hair that resembled a waterfall of darkness. We had lunch together, talked at length, laughed and strolled in the palace garden until our feet grew tired.
I decided to keep Amal with me and adopt her, just as that kind old man had adopted me. I enrolled her in the finest schools, dressed her in the most expensive clothes, took her with me on my travels and taught her the secrets of my company, until she could run it as well as anyone.
One day I felt a severe dizziness and fell to the floor. Amal took me to the hospital at once, and after numerous tests it was discovered that I was suffering from a weakened heart muscle. The doctor advised complete rest and warned me against marriage. Then I made my decision. I decided to hand over all the company’s affairs to Amal. And so I gave her the company with everything in it, while I stayed in the palace to enjoy what remained of my life.
Our company grew thanks to Amal’s intelligence and brilliance at work. It became the largest company in the kingdom. She married and gave birth to two daughters, wonders of beauty, whom I raised with my own hands as though they were truly my own.
The End
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