A Parasite?

He appeared to her like a boulder, jetting out of her sea of sorrows. She held on to his strength, hoping he would pull her away from the cruel waves of her difficult life.

And he did. With the steadiness of old mountains, and the will of true love, he let her throw at him every annoyance and heartache. He allowed her to depend on his unwavering attention, calmed the waters under her feet and enabled her to float.

She exaggerated her weaknesses. He indulged them. Lifting her little by little off the surface and let life’s lessons pass her by, barely wetting her toes. And thus, she remained. Living off of him, around him, by him, and for him. The distant solid shore never beckoned her to its sands. In the midst of the turbulent sea, she stayed safe in his arms.

Following consistent nature’s cycles, the sea rose one day and swallowed her steady rock. He was taken, like many others in her world. She fell prey to the unwavering power of life’s waves, one after the other, pulsing over her head, drowning her.

 What did she do? What could she do? What did she know how to do?

Barely keeping her head over the water, she looked around and spotted another boulder in the distance. Elegant sea gulls hovered over it.  She kicked her feet as hard as she could, climbed on and clung to its solidness. Safe again. Safe until the next sweeping angry surge.

A parasite? A weakling? A survivor? A woman?


Lilas Taha is a novelist, winner of the 2017 International Book Awards  and is the author of Shadows of Damascus and Bitter Almonds.