Her balcony is just a couple of meters across from his. During winter, the sun slants through it and stretches its edges with warmth and tenderness. His balcony, across from hers, however, is plagued by the cold, which gives him shivers and drains him. His teeth chatter, the clothing he wears fails to provide him with the necessary shelter for him to remain on the balcony, his ass flees like the wind, and the opportunity for the encounter he has so desperately yearned for vanishes with it. The sun cruises the sky time and again and, accordingly, things end up changing from top to bottom. He finds himself embraced by the sun on his balcony while the cold ferociously pounces on her and bites her on hers, forcing her to beat a hasty retreat into her bedroom. She stays close to the stove, hoping for it to inject some lost consistency and balance into her system, but she doesn’t feel comfortable squeezed by its arms. She would rather reveal herself to him, allow him to reveal himself to her. Yet, he thereupon retreats into his flat in the old ramshackle building. The cracked walls startle him, and spiders have settled everywhere. Recklessly he leaves the place. He tries to run away from it as he has done so many times before.
In the summer, he stares at her balcony after the dawn prayer, wishing to catch a glimpse of her. She is nowhere to be found, although he can almost feel her breath. He then decides to enjoy some fresh air before the sun rises and pours its wrath over his head, before the street vendors get on his nerves with their fuss. He knows for a fact that she is still sleeping. Sometimes he manages to picture her bedroom with her sinking into her slumber. In a few hours, both balconies are going to become a boiling hell. Obviously, she is going to hasten to turn on the air conditioner. She is genuinely sympathetic to its cause. He can use his old fan; its rattle rumbles over the entire house. It always fails to guide the air toward him or for that matter to deflect the hordes of flies looking to assail him. He has gotten used to entering the battlefields with it, the spaces air conditioning has not reached yet and where war is not over until spring arrives.
The trees next to both their balconies return to life. A feeling of peace engulfs him. The brightness of the day opens his eyes widely as a halo of holy light lures her onto the balcony. For the first time, he has a chance to discover the olive-tinged color of her skin, her coal-black mane, and her indigo eyes, which radiate an air of trust and serenity. He then becomes aware of how much he has missed out on, how much has been kept a secret. She, in turn, registers the old and strong ties that link them to one another. Gentle and warm breezes drift toward them. The distance between their balconies seems to have shrunk. It slowly dwindles before their very eyes. They wave to each other with steady hands. Their balconies merge and their lips unbend by folding out in a shiny whisper that discloses a prodigious revelation: dazzling smiles greet each other. The soft breezes of spring stand behind them and frolic all around them.
Written by Ali Ali Ali Aud.