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| Caught Between Wires |
story by: AHMED FOUAD ELHADY
Translated
from Arabic by ABDELLATIF RHESRI
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He and his peers gathered around their dream which had pestered them throughout the whole school year that had ended just one week before. An overwhelming happiness engulfed their faces, and enthusiasm showed up even in their discussions concerning what they could do to make a kite similar to the ones they used to see in various bright colours hovering in the air and sparkling excitement in the hearts of kids and adults as well.
He was the oldest and the smartest of them. He started to prepare the kite's structure from sticks, while they helped him tie the parts with threads. There came one of them carrying coloured cellophane paper to cover the structure, while two others sat near him preparing a long tail for the kite made of coloured cardboard paper and tying
it with a long thread, too. He collected the parts himself thoroughly and carefully. He called for a skillful friend of him to mend the balance of the
kite and assume the length of the tail. He inserted his hand in a bag and took out from it a big ball of threads. All of them screamed with joy and rushed
after him all along the street rejoicing and clapping hands, while the kite was flying up bit by bit above their heads. It hovered over some electric wires that stretched between street light posts. He tried to pull it away from the wires. The situation grew more complicated and he completely lost control of it. The kite staggered in the air in all directions. Its tail got entangled in the electric wires which drew the kite itself and embraced it amid the screaming of the kids. There was no way to get it back. An intense desire to cry pervaded his whole young body, but he resisted it with a slight moan. Yet, the moan grew louder and became audible weeping. The one who was sitting next to him felt pity for him. He gently nudged him saying; "Wake up, Sir. We have arrived to Asyout".
The next morning, he was checking the tools and gadgets in the control tower in the new airport that was about to be inaugurated on the following few days. He would be in charge of guiding all the airplanes flying in the sky from the control tower he directed. The wires would not kill his dream again.