Lilies Glow

Sixth land

between two darkness

When does the light diminish?

Asia Ezz- Eldeen

Milan Dimitri

Every few seconds you pull out this air, turn it round in your lungs and then you expel it again. Breathing goes on to let everyone know you’re still alive. Yeah, you’re still alive. No one’s extracted your death certificate yet . Light and darkness follow each other every day outside you , but you don’t see it . how will you see it while you are hiding in that dark spot inside you?!

Between Ramo’s strong arms , that tiny body as a small angel settled quietly while he was walking slower because of his unconscious load. Next to him, Milan was also walking .. preceding him some times and walking by his side other times , until they stopped in front of the vast entrance to the black world inside. Ramo gently put Asia next to one of the trees, then the two men stood in front of the creepy nozzle, trying to break into the darkness with their eyes but they did not succeed. The entrance to any cave is illuminated at outside then gradually breaks into darkness, but the black color here is exactly at the entrance border!

Asia was attacked by a strange and sudden fever. she was in a semi-coma, between sleeping and waking up with downed eyes and the hallucinations was attacking her as if she was dying. the time was passing and the two men had to take the decision.. letting her die or carrying her during their walk in the land of rainbow. of course Ramo took his second decision. They went through the seven color spaces until they arrived to the last purple area and at the end of it , they found the entrance to that cave which was drowning in the color that all the colors end with .. Black color. They knew that the cave is the next stop. they have to enter it to leave rainbow land, but Asia had no symptoms of improvement. Milan said:

- I think this is the end , Ramo . We need to move forward. Her end and ours will be sooner or later. let her die here peacefully, we don’t know which horrors we’ll meet inside the cave .

Milan’s speech was rational and logical. this land swallowed them one by one until they became three . it is just a time and they would end. Ramo silenced then looked at her. she was with semi-open eyes, and her lips was moving by incomprehensible words. Ramo sighed deeply and said:

- Well, I’ll try a last attempt, just as the land produced the disease, it will produce the drug. I’ll take a quick tour in this purple belt , I may find any cure. Maybe it’s a grass that will ward off that fever. You’ll stay here with her until I get back. if we don’t succeed , we’ll leave her here.

Milan shook his head as he was unconvinced , after which Ramo moved away from them. Milan kept moving slowly back and forth holding his arms on his chest, waiting for Ramo’s return disappointed as he expected. Her exhausted voice was heard saying... Leave the pillow, leave the pillow! . He stopped and looked at her carefully , then he approached and sit next to her, putting his hand on her forehead . he found that her temperature was not as high as expects . Milan mumbled:

- You better die quietly here Asia, I envy you, I think my end will be painful!.

She looked at him with two weary eyes, then returned her choppy words:

- it fell , the flower fell into the water! Get her fast. Adam!

Milan looked at her with insightful eyes and then said:

- There’s something strange I can’t explain in your facial features, but it’s like kids!

he closed his eyes , then with a slightly trembling finger, he touched her lips. an angry voice was came from behind him made him flinch and got up quickly. That was Ramo who pushed him back, saying:

- What exactly are you doing?

Milan said with confusion:

- She was delirious, and I was next to her trying to talk to her.

Ramo said angrily:

- Will you never forget your old shit?!

Milan stopped for a moment shocked, then said while he was sharply confused:

- My old shit ? What do you mean ?

Ramo lowered his head and closed his eyes , taking a deep breath :

- I’m sorry, I lost my temper on you .

- Who are you? you are so weird, and then why do you care about her so much? ! Do you like her?

Ramo spoke to end the conversation, saying:

- I’m sorry Milan, forget what i said!

Milan gave him his back angrily and then walked away. Ramo approached Asia, who was continuing its delirium... Adam , catch it !

Ramo pressed her cheeks to open her lips forcibly, and then squeezed the little purple ball which he returned with ,so its liquid was poured inside her hollow . he approached her face and whispered in her ears, saying:

- You did not kill him, Asia!.

Asia closed her eyes, and after minutes she reopened them again. she wetted her lips with her tongue, and then she narrowly swallowed her saliva as if she had recovered from a long coma. Ramo retreated two steps back then Asia got up and stand in front of him . She said slowly:

- Who are you? How did you know about him? How did you know about Adam?

- Asia, listen to what I’m gonna say well! I’m not going to continue the journey with you, this cave is your last stop, I’m sure you’ll cross it peacefully, I didn’t want to leave you, but I’m not allowed to get to that point!

- What are you saying? I don’t understand anything!

He approached her to say quickly:

- Whatever you see inside, you must know you’re going out and you’re going to survive. we’ll meet again and you’ll understand everything! . Also , I want you to know something last before I’m gone.

Their eyes met and he approached her more, then said:

- You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved and I’ll love forever!

in less than a moment and before she realized it totally , Ramo annexed her severely and kissed her forehead with shivering lips . it didn’t take more than a few seconds, but it looked like the age on them, and when Asia walked away, she didn’t find him in front of her!. At the same moment, Milan approached . he was surprised by her.. standing in full consciousness and on her face surprising glances that was not less than his surprise to see her intact. He said with surprise :

- How... ؟ And where is Ramo?

She said, while still shocked :

- He’s gone!

****

It was just a few days away from New Year’s Eve, houses and streets wore their white suit as a bride on her wedding night, while cypress trees, decorated with small lamps, cane candy and gifts.. were distributed in the streets to celebrate Christmas holidays. The sun was about to go down in that village in Shalskai, Russia, While that eight-year-old kid merged to play snowballs with his peers in real enjoyment.The Christmas holiday for him is the best event of the year.. he wishes his own wishes from Santa Claus, and collects gifts from his parents and relatives, who come from the city with their children to spend holiday in the arms of the countryside, as several days pass with pure delight. Yes, Christmas was carrying a lot of pleasant surprises for Milan, but

the Christmas that year carried to him a heavy event which was the beginning of the road that brought him to that deep abyss.

In excited steps, Milan ran inside the house leaving peers outside,to show them the snow shovel his father bought him last Christmas, Which he used in building many snowmen with pointy noses. He went to his room and searched a lot, but he failed to find it , so he went to his mother, who was standing in the kitchen, with his uncle’s wife and aunt making a dinner.

- Mom, where’s the ice shovel?

- Didn’t you find it in your room, Milan?

-No.

- Find it in the basement below.

He turned back to the hall with the comfortable sofas, where his uncle David was leaning on one of them in relaxation. He looked at him angerily and kept walking . Uncle David was not a favorite relative of Milan, it is rare to see him in full consciousness as he carries the bottle of wine with him most of the time, and he looks like the devil because of all that blackness below his eyes!. Milan arrived for the door and processed the latch then he rolled inside, and didnot notice that this young man followed him to the basement , after the desire flared up in him when he saw the little kid !

he looked around.. the house is empty except for the busy women in the kitchen, so without hesitation he moved . Milo, as his mother calls him, was busy in the searching , not paying attention to the basement door being shut from behind him quietly!. It was cold in the basement, where the heating system doesn’t reach down here , like the rest of the house, but despite the cold below, Milan found a hot body stick to him from behind!

****

She laid on her back while she was reflecting on the ceiling with the non visible details - because of the darkness - but she was remembering its features well .The door was Closed and curtains were taped on all windows,to not allow any light to enter.

Many days she went through insomnia till it exceeded the month. she was still like this, while she took all the ways to attract that stubborn. Preventing caffeines, using sedatives, and then resorting to intense darkness to possibly transfer her to another darkness. but those attempts were unsuccessful and here she is..her bedding is boiling down and she is hardly settling on a position. he knocked on the door, then she heard who opens it and enters. He gave her a pat on the shoulder:

-looks like you haven’t slept yet, Asia.

As a stigma, she didn’t want to be reminded with that, and his worry about her makes things worse. she got up and told her worried husband:

-I haven’t slept yet.

- It’s okay, leave that room and go back to our bedroom with me, you’ll sleep in my arms that night.

She gently removed his hand and said:

-forgive me, Hisham, but I can’t! . I want to try alone. I feel darkness will benefit me.

He put his arm back on her shoulder, and patiently said:

- leave me here with you!

a wave of resentment raised inside her , but she gently said:

- I know you are tired of me, please just bear me, and once I sleep I’ll go back to our bed.

he mumbled :

- Well, I’ll wait for you.

he closed the door so the room drowned in the dark again.

What are you missing to be happy?her friend once asked her as others see her faith is weak and the whole matter is petty . A delicate childlike beauty, a prestigious job in a large and well-known company, aristocratic loved husband , a wonderful baby who is small version in shape of her, a stately house in the finest areas of Alexandria and directly overlooking the sea. So why did happiness leave her world? Why do the loneliness monster and the gloom settle in her heart? Why does she divide her time between her work and her home and going to psychiatrists? the doctors diagnosed her as a severe depression without conviction, because they didn’t get their hands on the gap inside her that brought her to that condition.

She succumbed to darkness without realizing it ,and suddenly opened her eyes on the sunrise light!. she couldnot believe that her consciousness was losted finally , even if it was not lost more than an hour. the darkness which the room was drowned in succeeded finally in attracting her consciousness away . She walked out of the room to see the little sleepy kid.. .. Adam . she gave him a heartfelt kiss then she left to start her daily static routine before breakfast and before preparing herself for work and Adam for school . She wore her suit and sneakers then started her lovely morning habit of jogging, which takes an hour a day after sunrise . She put her earphones on and then set out in parallel to the beach.

two things wake up life in her heart.. Adam and running. she increased the pace of her accelerated steps and then gradually slowed down when she glimpsed him coming .he was doing the same thing she is doing !. He’s her co-worker and is mad in love with her !.

***

Their hands touched the wall as they entered the cave. the walls now have the eye to guide them in this intense darkness, which did not subside even after their eyes were used to it. They continued the frightened trembling walking , after which٠ Asia suddenly stopped and said:

- Stop, Milan please.

Milan stopped walking and touched the wall until he touched her hand. he said:

- what’s the matter?

She said in a trembling accent:

- This darkness is endless, I want to go back.

Milan said:

-look back, there’s no light outside, we’ve trapped here !.

- I’m scared .

- and I shudder with fear, but there’s no other way ahead than to keep going.

- Well, I want to rest a little bit.

They sat in place where they were very close to the wall . Silence and darkness shrouded them and a certain sense that they were not alone! , but despite that shared feeling, they didn’t tell each other about it. Asia spoke to break the silence:

- We’ve seen a lot, but this is the first time I’ve been scared like this..

Milan’s voice followed her:

- It’s the power of darkness, I’ve had an experience with it in the past.

-This is the case with me too!

- We ended up in this darkness, it has something to do with our past, that land knows what it is doing!.

They were increasingly feeling like they’re not alone . they got closer together, and adhered more to the wall. Asia said while she was almost melting into the wall ... What’s your past , Milan?