The Day After the Honeymoon
By
Suleiman Olimat, Ph.D.
Abeer woke up early on her first day in her new home. She and her husband, Saleem, had returned from their honeymoon the previous night. They had a wonderful time on the Greek island of Rhodes.
This evening, our family will come to bless our marriage, and we must prepare to receive them. There is nothing to offer, so we will have our coffee and then go shopping. Abeer thought as she eagerly looked forward to going to the market with her husband for the first time, as they were taking their first step and on the first threshold of their life together. She placed the coffee pot on the small burner. She lit it and went to get two pieces of chocolate, the high-end kind she had made sure to buy from the duty-free shop at the airport. She wanted to surprise her beloved husband, Saleem, by bringing him coffee and a chocolate in bed.
She went back to the kitchen to pour the coffee into the colored cups and suddenly screamed loudly: “A…a…a… mouse!” She called out loudly: “Salee…Saleem, there is a mouse in the kitchen. I’m terrified. I’m so scared. I spilled coffee on the kitchen floor because I was so scared.” She repeated the call loudly: “Where are you, Saleem?!”
Saleem entered the kitchen, yawning, spreading his arms up and down in athletic movements to regain his energy:
Where is the stupid mouse, my lovely wife, Abeer?
She approached Saleem, holding his hand, trying to hide behind him to protect herself from this evil creature.
It’s there on the corner, looking at us. Imagine, it’s like a monster wanting to devour us.
What is this nonsense, Abeer? A monster is eating us! It’s just a little mouse, I’ll catch it and punish it for its rudeness, for it bothered you while you were still a bride. Saleem ran towards the mouse, but it was faster than he was. It jumped over the table in the middle of the kitchen. He asked Abeer to close the door in case it escaped. She closed the door tightly and nervously. Saleem ran after the mouse again, but he couldn’t catch it. His eyes fell on the trash can, so he ran to it. This is the trap I will catch the damn mouse with. Saleem waited for a moment of silence and considered it a truce between them. Silence is the master of the situation now. Abeer whispered in his ear: It’s looking at us with glazed eyes. Now’s your chance to attack and catch it.
Abeer had not finished her last words until she saw Saleem pressing the basket, announcing his victory and the capture of the damned mouse. He smiled with the triumph euphoria of victory and saw the smile of victory on Abeer’s lips.
Is this the mean mouse that scared you, my love?! It is now on my grip, and I am teaching it a lesson it will never forget.
He lifted it higher, waving it around, holding it by the tail. He showered it, in a wide-open mouth, with insults and curses as retribution for spoiling their first day in their new home. Saleem’s index finger and thumb holding the mouse started to sweat. The mouse began to fidget, trying to slip away and escape to any burrow it saw in front of it, and it succeeded in falling into Saleem’s mouth and then settled in his throat. The mouse completely blocked his airway, so Saleem fell to the ground, a lifeless body lay motionless as the little creature crept out in search of a new burrow.
Do not despise a tiny creature in a conflict. A mosquito can make a lion’s eye bleed.