"She gathered a pile of papers before her, facing eight years of her life, years of chasing after a fertilized egg. She closed her eyes, deeply aware of the painful transformation of her youth's best years into a breathless, fruitless, even catastrophic search... She collected all the reports in a bag, tied its neck, and threw it in the trash can. After getting rid of it, she felt light, distant from everything, and outside of everything, even freed from the weight of her own body. Was she entering the world of sleep? She startled suddenly, opening her eyes in terror, her heart pounding as her mind conjured a frightening scene, though composed of all the loving, familiar faces. Her image returning from the honeymoon, their eyes staring at her, all of them—her family, his family, the neighbors, acquaintances, the grocer, the baker, the cleaner—eyes asking: 'What are you hiding for us?' She would reply with a sweet smile: 'I don't understand, what am I hiding for you?' They would point their fingers at her belly and say: 'What are you hiding in your belly?' And she would look down shyly: 'But I've only been married for a month.' A nightmare, a real nightmare. She got up to drink water, her breath catching. She thought if she were to write to the American doctor about her environmental and psychological conditions, she would start with this nightmare, specifically with the phrase: 'What are you hiding in your belly...'"

• Publisher: Arab Scientific Publishers, Inc.
• Author: Haifa Bitar
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Number of Pages: 240
• ISBN: 9789953872780
• Cover Type: Paperback