I will write a letter to Vania, I must. I will tell her that I am still breathing, and that those around me are as well; perhaps she thought I perished with a treacherous rocket that struck the camp or the neighborhood we inhabit, and that we are now under the rubble. I will laugh, and I will tell her that our bodies have calcified and developed a strange immunity to death. Only the young have died. The young alone, who do not know the meaning of death, and it never occurred to them that shells would fall like symphonies on their souls to take them to the heavens. Perhaps Vania will argue with me and say: I do not believe in paradise and eternity. And she will begin her speech with her body gestures that suggest she is a secularist debating the church, giving a lesson on life. Meanwhile, my veins smile against my will and my tongue sets off with my Islamic identity, which I cherish, and I, in turn, begin to talk about mistakes and sins, life and death, paradise and eternity.

• Author: Yusri Al-Ghoul
• Publisher: Fadaat Publishing House
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Edition: First
• Number of Pages: 138
• Language: Arabic
• Category: Stories & Novels