Private Number 0

She wakes up on the  resonating sound of the construction of a new building in front of her.
She is irritated as usual. She only wanted half an hour more of sleep!
She felt the urge to open the window and shout at this noisy street she lives in. Just shout out loud.
No one will hear her in any case.


The phone rings. Ahh not her annoying ringtone too. She remembered she should change it. It has been a month.
The phone is still ringing. With no number. Just two words.
“Private Number”.
She is not surprised . Just curious.
She wonders : "Is it a call from a stalker? and he wants to veil those digital numbers? So I cant have save his number."


Or is it a call from secret agents? With a plan for a political game?
Did they see her in that protest?


Is it a call from heaven? An angel in disguise? To warn her about a danger? "
Or is he just a normal human like her? And this “private number” thing is just a technical issue .


She finally answers . A charming voice replies back to her.
They talk. They hang up the phone.
Her private caller keeps calling her afterwards.
And She keeps answering.
The private caller's voice lingers in her head.
But she cant call back and it is agonizing her.

Every day, she waits for those two words to show up on that Nokia scratched screen.
& Every time, she answers, the private caller takes her away,


Takes her away to a far off land, of daring swordfights, magic spells! Perhaps he will be her prince!!
 Or perhaps not. Maybe to a land with fire and hate, where the prince is just another  devil in disguise .....


She would sometimes convince herself that he is all four in one: the angel, the stalker, the secret agent , or just any normal person . But she is sure that he has superpower; he is a “teleporter”, perhaps not in space or place, and neither in time but rather in thoughts and memories.






Beirut : January 2010-April 2011