Through the Clear Windows

Since it's suspense week at the Wonderful Art Garden , hehehe, thought I would add my story. Feel free to interpret as you want, inshaAllah.

Through the Clear Windows
5th in line. When there shouldn’t even have been a line. What the heck was wrong with the girl? Figures. Too Chicken to cross the roundabout. Girls. Can’t drive at all. They shouldn’t even be allowed to apply for a driver’s license. There should be a law against them. It would be like “Hi, I’d like to take apply for a driver’s license.” Then a man would say “Please answer this question, first. Are you a female or a male?” And the girl would be slightly surprised but she’d answer “Female” and probably giggle tentatively. Then the man would say “I’m sorry, only men are allowed to drive.”

His impatient fingers strummed the steering wheel. He smiled for a second at his great vision but then was rudely roused by a beep from behind. “It’s not my fault the woman isn’t moving. Don’t even think about beeping me,” he yelled back. Of course, the person didn’t hear him- his window was closed after all-but it felt good to scream back. He wanted to scream some more.

He opened the radio, hoping that something interesting would be on. Just his luck…the song playing was ancient. The traffic jam was maddening and the music only infuriated him further. He sighed loudly. It was hot. He grabbed a tissue and tried to wipe the sweat trickling down his flushed neck. The air conditioner wasn’t working. He peered through the windows of the car next to him, but he couldn’t see anything at all. It was tinted. With nothing to do, he sat and cursed the woman, “Come on lady. Don’t have all day! Get a move on!” He growled.

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She sat in her comfortable chair in the home she’d tried to make her sanctuary. But she had never been safe. Not after she’d become a mother. She was always afraid, but usually calm. Today, her treacherous nerves left her, one by one. Abandoning her when she needed them most. She had a monstrous headache, but it was only a tiny annoyance in the midst of her greater pain…she had a mortal heart ache.

Her baby was out in the streets…driving for the first time. “Oh Allah, please protect her….Please, please, please, please.” Her voice quivered as her hands shook.

One.

Two.

Three.

Breathe.

One.

Two.

Three.

Moan.

One.

Two.

Three.

Breathe.

In spite of herself, she couldn’t calm down. She twisted her arms over and over, wrenched her fingers, untied her hair tie, tied it again, smoothed her hair, and then with wobbly legs she ran to the bathroom. She washed her face.

She was calm.

Her daughter was fine.

Then she vomited into the sink.

He could easily use the siren. Then he’d be free of this irritating traffic jam. It was very tempting…but he hated to use it when it wasn’t a real emergency. He debated on it, but realized he was already 8th in line. Not that far. There was no point...

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She sat in the driver’s seat, shaking. She’d always hated roundabouts. Ha! Everybody hated them. Around and around the cars went. She felt dizzy just staring at them. Was she supposed to go now? No, that car went too fast. Okay, now. No. He wasn’t slowing down for her. Didn’t he see her? Of course not! Guys. Never thought about others. Never waited for others. They drove like they owned the streets. Did they care if they put others in danger? No, of course not. Did they care if they were driving too fast? No, in fact, they were never fast enough! Did they think about the lives they could destroy with their car? Nope! They didn’t even think about their own lives!

4th beep. 1. 2. 3. 4.

4 beeps! She knew they weren’t personal. But she took them personally. Why? Why did they have to do that? It wasn’t her fault nobody was letting her go. Gosh, how she’d always hated beeps. Even as a kid she’d hated Road Runner. Used to cheer for Coyote. “Come on! Gimme a break,” she muttered. “I’m new here. She was “cool”. She was “fine.” Collected. Calm.

Absolutely fine. Where was her tissue box? She sniffled. But she didn’t want to cry. She just wanted to get out of here. Heck, she didn’t know what she was doing here. This wasn’t what she’d thought. She didn’t feel “free.” Instead, she felt trapped. This wasn’t her great fantasy…this was more like her worst nightmare. She wasn’t a driver. So what if she’d passed a test…she didn’t belong here. Especially not alone. She wanted to call somebody. Anybody. Get me out of here!!

Three more cars whizzed past.

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17 cars. No way. He wasn’t even going to bother himself to get in line. Thank God, he had a 4 X 4. He’d just cruise on the sand. “Come on baby, let’s get out here,” he snickered to his car.


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“Lady, when this is over, remind me to move to Saudi Arabia. No women drive there. The only safe place in the world.”


He was still 5th in line. Three cars behind him lay the police officer. He wanted to scream at him. “Come on, man. Do something. I have a life, you know. Does that girl want us to sit here till we die? Officer! Get this line moving. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”.

“Please, please, go pick her up. Please,” her mother blubbered on the phone. Her voice rose to a dangerous pitch as her misery escalated.
“Honey, relax. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine,” her father tried to console her.
“Please. I’m begging you. I have a bad feeling. P.L.E.A.S.E. Somebody help me! My daughter….my daughter….” Her stomach wasn’t cooperating again. She could feel the food moving around. She was hot. Her palms were moist. Her head was still throbbing. Her heart was pounding. She felt the blood leave her face…she struggled to breathe. Why wasn’t anybody helping her?!

“Okay, okay, I’ll pick her up. She won’t like that you know!” He tried to chuckle, but it sounded different. More like a whimper…It was just a tiny sound but it betrayed him. She would know that he too was anxious. Nervous. Worried. And a little scared, too. And she’d probably faint. He tried to distract her…”I’m going right now to pick her up. Make sure dinner is ready when we come. Cook something she likes so she doesn’t get too angry at us!” He was about to shut the phone when he remembered! “Wait! Wait, where am I supposed to go? Where is she?” he asked.

“I don’t know!”

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7 minutes. No problem. He could do it. All he had to do was cross this street, then a roundabout and he’d be there in time. Heck, he’d probably make it before time if he just sped up a bit.

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5, 6, 7.

7 beeps in all.
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He was unsure. Should he go and take care of things? One the one hand, he was a police officer. On the other, he was off duty. He had wanted to do one thing, though. Scare the guy who driven on the sand. It would be a good warning to others…no cutting. Plus it would be fun!

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______________________________
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“ That’s it! Cross the roundabout and I’m just on time! Wohoooooooo! Who ‘da’ man?!
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8.

9.

10.

10 beeps.

She couldn’t take it anymore.

She got ready to go …………………..she’d waited long enough for a car to let her pass. No more waiting.

She didn’t see him come rushing.
______________________________


“OHMYGOD.”

______________________________
______________________________

The siren was loud.

______________________________
______________________________

He wasn’t 5th in line anymore…he felt sick to his stomach. He opened the car door and took a deep breath. He released his stomach of all of its contents, but he didn’t feel better. He shut his eyes. He couldn’t breathe. It was so hot. No air. His fingers started to tremble. He felt his stomach quake and he realized he was going to vomit again. He shut the radio.

Then he buried his face in his hands and did something he hadn’t done in years. He prayed. “Oh Allah! Oh Allah……..”

Somewhere in the distance he heard a beep.

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She heard a loud crash. Oh my God, who’d crashed? Why were the paramedics picking her up? How come she couldn’t hear what they were saying…… all she could hear was……………beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep even as they carried her away from the awful car…………to the hospital.

Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep
beepbeepbeep-----

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Okay, so that we the end. I wrote that like four years ago, and unfortunately, I am missing a part of it! But this is the majority of it.

So, if you're interested in a bit of the author's explanation....:P LOL, as I said, you are more than free to interpret it in your own way....

Here in the UAE, there are a lot of cars that are tinted...meaning you can't see the people inside. However, there are other cars with clear windows...........you can see the people clearly.

But you know what?

Although we see the people, we cannot see what's going on in their lives. We never know who it is that is behind us. Maybe the person driving behind you is rushing their wife to a hospital, maybe the girl in front of you is scared, maybe the man to the side of you is having a bad day.....maybe the person you're beeping at is going through the worst situation possible.

The truth is that just because you have to go somewhere, doesn't mean others don't either. Why else are we all on the road?

Sometimes, we're so wrapped up in our own lives, we don't realize that others have problems too.........we need to make excuses...traffic is annoying but we can use the time to do something...listen to Qu'ran, do dhikr...etc...(This is the part that is missing in the story. I had one of the characters enjoy the traffic by listening to Qur'an and making use of the time!)

and so, to sum it up....the windows may be clear..........but we only see the surface.

As Salamu Alaikum

Masha Allah there is a lot of emotion running thru the story.

i really enjoyed reading it .............yes we only see the surface