Moroccan short stories

The phone

It was a rainy Friday in the afternoon; Karima felt a little bit queasy. She sat on the kitchen chair and leaned forward, her elbows on her thighs and her chin cupped in her hands. Her husband, Karim, filled a cup of cold water from the sink and gave it to her with a painkiller. There was a tremor in the hands, and the cup clicked against her teeth. Suddenly, she felt a severe pain in her stomach and loudly screamed before she heavily fell on the floor. Her husband, in a panic situation, rummaged inside the pocket of his jacket searching for his cell phone, trying to call an ambulance. He heard a woman’s voice on the other line and thought somebody was answering his phone call so quickly. He caught his breath and said, “Ambulance! Ambulance, please!” Suddenly the line died on him.

When he tried to dial the number again, he realized that his phone didn’t have enough credit to make the call, and what he heard was a recorded voice message. In his crouching position, he tossed his phone on the floor and quickly stood up. He ran to the bedroom, brought a pillow, and put it under his wife’s head. His wife was on the floor still, but he whispered to her, explaining that the emergency phone line was not for free; therefore, he must go to buy a calling card from the store or find someone who can lend him his phone. He promised her to come back.

He barefooted outside looking for anyone to whom he must ask for help, but the street was empty as the rain was still falling heavily. He ran as fast as he could to the nearest store, and when he reached it, he found the store closed and no opening or closing hours were posted on the store door. His shirt and pants were very wet, and he had several cuts on his ball of foot and arch. He looked up the street and down the street, but no one was outside. When he started running to the next closest store, which was about an hour away on foot, he finally saw a man biking from the opposite side of the main street. Hurriedly, he waved and waved at him. Calling him for help aloud. The biking man was still riding his bike, and with one hand he was pulling up his shirt collar, hiding his head with it from the rain. As the biking man came closer down the main street, he heard something. He then let the collar of his shirt go and held with his two hands the handlebars of his bike, and then saw Karim waving at him. The man wanted to break but had no front or rear brakes. He helped with one foot to the ground and came to a stop, but five meters away from Karim.

Karim was breathing heavily, confused, and shivering. He stamped heavy steps toward the biking man, and before he could say anything to him, he noticed water was seeping through one of his shoe’s soles. He whispered inside his head, “If this man has a cell phone, it must not be working,” but he took his chance and asked. “My wife is very sick and urgently needs an ambulance. My phone doesn’t have enough credit. Do you have a phone to lend me? Please, I will pay you.”

The biking man showed him a sorry facial expression and said, “I’m really sorry; I′ve never had a phone in my whole life.” But offered him his bike if he wanted to use it. “I’ll wait for you here by the tree.”

Karim rode his bike and pedaled as fast as he could to the nearest store that was three miles away. As he was riding the bike, the sky turned very stormy and a horrifying thunder struck in front of him, but Karim was not afraid. The earthy road had little puddles here and there, but Karim went through them all and never stopped until he reached the top of the hill, and then he took a deep breath as at that moment he would not pedal because the muddy road was a descent. His bike sped like a car, and he was not pedaling at all. Suddenly, the road curved; no sign was indicating that. The bike shook dangerously as Karim tried to slow down a little bit, but the bike had no brakes. The front bike tire hit a big stone, and Karim bounced and lost his balance. He made several hits on the ground and fell down the mountain. He never made it to the next store. He died.