AN ANTHOLOGY OF
MOROCCAN NEW SHORT STORY, VOLUME 2
Virtual Lover
-Short
Story-
Written by Abdelhamid El Gharbaoui
Translated by Mohamed Saïd Raïhani
" He said:
« Here
I am, at last, with the girl I have always been dreaming of as a
partner »…
She said:
«This is the young
man I have always been dreaming of as partner »…
They carried on
until they felt the necessity of each of each one to the other and they began
talking about engagement and marriage.
Once, while
chatting, she told him:
« I am coming
to meet you »."
Abdel Hamid
Gharbaoui
Moroccan short-story Writer
Born in
Author of :
« About
That Day I Am Telling » short stories
1988
«
« Naked Being »
short stories in 1994
«
« Sign Of
Disappointment » novel in 1998
« Ayman & The
snake » short stories in 1996
« Shama »
short stories, 2005
«
« Scent, Coat &
Blood » short stories in 2005
« The Lady In The
Blue Dream » novel in 2005
« Alchemist »
novel by Paolo Coelho (translated) in 2005
She wondered as she was making herself ready for the
anticipated encounter…
He wondered as he thought at the first word that would
come to his mind before been told in her presence…
(How can two people many miles away from each other
have their heart beating with love only via « chatting » on
the internet? »
Both of them attributed it to Destiny…
****************
He has undergone, previously, an unsuccessful
relationship…
She waits for nothing but the moment when the one who
gave her up will declare their divorce…
Both virtual lovers, at a specific time, decided to
keep secret their old love affairs between the folds of their heart and adopt a
pseudonym rather than their real names just for a while to give the new
relationship a chance to succeed ?
Perhaps…
Perhaps to give their past a chance to fade away…
Past means sadness and boredom. It was better to bury
it forever.
She chose the pseudonym of «Salwa » and
during the «chat», she introduced herself as: cultivated, pious,
beautiful and keen on reading…
He chose the pseudonym of «Fouad» and during
the «chat»,he introduced himself as : cultivated, pious, beautiful
and keen on reading…
They kept on chatting and hovering overhead in their
pinkish dreams.
He said:
« Here I am, at last, with the girl I have always
been dreaming of as a partner »…
She said:
«This is the young man I have always been dreaming of
as partner »…
They carried on until they felt the necessity of each
of each one to the other and they began talking about engagement and marriage.
Once, while chatting, she told him:
« I am coming to meet you ».
They consented to meet in a public plaza in the middle
of which there is a large fountain attracting many visitors to enjoy the
colored water lines rising high above accompanied by the well-known Arabian
songs…
She informed him that she would be wearing a black coat
on a blue dress…
He told her that he would be wearing a white
woolen pullover and a pair of blue jeans…
Finally, there came the day that they have so
passionately been waiting for…
She was standing near the fountain meditating the
threads of its colored water bursting up in strong gushes and falling again
yielding to gravity before repeating the rise-and-fall movement to the rhythm
of Oum Koulthoum's «Can You Remember?»
She was standing with her back to the rest of people
as if to hide her face from the remaining visitors in the plaza…
There he came…
There she is with the blue dress and the black coat.
That is his love.
He got closer rand closer from her and in a tremulous
voice, he whispered:
«Salwa!»
She would not have answered the call, had she not remembered
that «Salwa» was the brand-new name she coined for herself…
She turned around…
And when…
He was nobody but…
The one who gave her up. The one whom she has
been waiting for to declare solemnly their divorce.
***********
The Writer, Abdel Hamid Gharbaoui, Moroccan short-story
Writer, born in
*The translator, Mohamed Saïd Raïhani, is a Moroccan
translator, scholar & short-story writer, born on December 23rd 1968
in Ksar El Kébir. He published in Arabic "The Singularity Will" (A Semiotic Study on First-names) 2001, "Waiting For the Morning" (Short stories) 2003,"Thus Spoke Santa Lugar-Verde" (Short stories) 2005, "The Season Of Migration to Anywhere" (Short stories) 2006, "The Three Keys: Freedom, Dream & Love" (An anthology of Moroccan New Short Story in Three
Volumes) 2006-2007-2008, "The History of Manipulating Professional Contests in
Morocco" (Syndical manifestos in Two Volumes) 2009-2011, "Death of the Author" 2010…
He is getting ready for printing:"Beyond Writing & Reading» (testimonies), "Kais & Juliet" ( Novel) and ""When Photo
Talks" (Photo-Autobiography).
* "Virtual Lover" is the eleventh narrative text in the "The Anthology Of Love", An Anthology of Moroccan New
Short Story, Volume 2, directed
by Mohamed Saïd Raïhani.
***********
This Short Story Is Re-published On the
Following Links:
|
AFNAN |
PEARL TREE |
WIKIPEDIA |
|
|
ALADABIA |
|
**********
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