The Hidden Light of Objects by Mai Al-Nakib

Author:Mai Al-Nakib
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing
Published: 2014-05-13T04:00:00+00:00

19 September 1982

My dearest Nader,

It is impossible you have already heard what has happened.

Every year begins with hope in this village. We give thanks to the Blessed Virgin despite ruination, despite injustice. But after this, hope is finished. I cannot begin again after this.

The blackest stain. You will hear of it. Sabra and Shatila. They were trapped like vermin, hundreds of them, maybe thousands, surrounded and slaughtered. Even if it had been only one. The blackest stain.

Blessed Virgin.

Two girls got out. Twins. I heard about it from the judge, the one with the white beard and blue eyes, remember him? You once said he looked like God. They found them in a cellar two kilometers from the camps. They refuse to speak. I can’t stop thinking about these two girls, eight, maybe nine years old. They could have been your sisters. They are your sisters, Nader. They are my granddaughters. These two girls quaking in a damp cellar with no food or water, centipedes in their tangled hair.

How could we?

I’ve included a list of names. There is nothing you can do with this list. I don’t want your father to see it. It is absolutely imperative, Nader, that your parents do not see this letter or the list. No matter what happens, this is between you and me. When your father chose to leave, he made the right decision. I couldn’t see it then, but I see it now. I will not allow all this to drag him back into it. He is free. You are his freedom.

But this list is something I want you to have. I want you never to forget who’s who and what’s what. Maybe you will never return to Lebanon. Never return. But if you do, I want you to know.

I’m going to look for those girls. I’m a dead man with this list, but I have to see the girls. If there’s anything left for Lebanon, it’s in them.

This will be my final letter. I love you.

Goodbye.

Thomas

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