Suspicion

 

 

 

It’s Thursday and she knew there was enough time for a long walk as the library would open at 10 O’clock am. She was a librarian and loved reading books. As soon as she opened her apartment windows, sunlight and fresh cold morning breeze filled the place which made her remarkably happy.” What a wonderful weather! This is the perfect morning for walking to work”, she thought.

 
She made her way through the park where the library was just at the end on the opposite side of the road. She went on walking along that long footpath enjoying the natural scene. It was mid autumn; beautiful colored leaves were everywhere, some were dancing gently with the wind on trees and others had fallen down drawing a magnificent carpet spreading all over the place. It was quiet enough to clearly hear the singing and whistling of those birds swinging up there on their branches. There were almost no children around as schools had just started and most people were already at their work place; just few persons were there walking their dogs.

 

She peacefully walked half way when she decided to have some rest enjoying the warmth of the sun and have some reading in such a bright day. She was reading a story about racism and how it is so much based on wrong assumptions and evil suspicions. After a while, she looked at her watch; “It’s time to go to work”, she said.

 
When she started walking again, she was no longer watching the beauty around the park as she was totally overwhelmed with what she had just been reading. Suddenly, she felt that someone was following her but she was unsure if she was right so she slightly looked over her shoulder to have a glimpse and get rid of any doubt. There was a man; well-built, bald and white.”He is just walking behind; may be he is going to his work too and not following me”, she said trying to assure herself.  Still in doubt, she decided to quicken her steps but as expected he quickened his too.  she became so frightened that she thought about her hijab, about being Muslim, and about being different. She could hear nothing but her panicky heart beating so fast; she could see danger written everywhere before her eyes; her hands were shaking and her head was down searching inside her bag  for her phone. The moment she thought her heart was going to stop, a strong hand grabbed her arm to stop her going any further. “Watch out”, the man shouted!

 

Now all her senses were back in working; she could hear the noise of the road and could see that she was no longer in the park but one step away from crossing the high speed road. She cried, deeply cried, looking at the man, looking at the road and looking at the sky. The man saved her life just on time before being hit by a bus at the crossroad.

“Don’t you know that there is a high speed crossroad at the end of that path? The man shockingly exclaimed! Then kindly asked her: “Are you alright?”

What would she tell him? Would she say that she suspected him being a racist and a criminal? She couldn’t say anything more than; “Please forgive me and thank you for saving my life.”
Be careful! The man said leaving her then crossed the road.

She was safe!

Is it not true that “What you don’t know doesn’t hurt you; it’s what you suspect that causes all the trouble. “~ Evan Esar

All the best,

Nahla
ps, I wrote this story after watching a short silent movie on the internet referring to the same meaning.