The deep, rich voice that recited the prayers resonated throughout from the unseen speakers. In
contrast to her expectations, the people continued to roll their carts stocked with crispy packages.
Almost all of them wore black and white cloaks that covered their naturally well-structured
aesthetics. She was one of those few who wore jeans and a t-shirt.
Everything had a peculiar scent, even her favourite burgers. By then, she would already have
devoured the exhilarating sensation of being in an exotic land. But this time, her belly tightened; her
eyes tried to avoid other eyes of curiosity that mostly were only there because of her imagination.
She noticed the young lady who sat opposite to her. She stared for a moment and turned away to
the window on the left. The frame revealed the wide-open azure sky, but she mentioned the dunes in
the horizon to her mother, who then turned her head to the right.
Rahaf’s eyes and ears focused on the girl sitting across the tables. The surging excitement did
remain in her usual container but, it burst out when she heard the girl speak in an alien language. At
roughly the same time as the burst, she called: ‘Excuse me!’
– – –
‘Where are you from?’ Rahaf asked.
‘Oh,’ she wondered if she should reply with the name of her native country or by her current
residence. Despite the precious moment of contemplation, perhaps by intuition, she answered:
‘Japan. I’m Japanese.’
She was indeed, and there was no way of denying that, except for her appearance and character
that did not resemble the typical Japanese. She could nearly sense them again; their sneers, their
laughs, their confused looks, including the warmth in her eyes. Reminiscences of her mother
rambling on her regular remarks inflicted upon their birth nation nauseated her brain once again.
They constantly etched away a part of her. Those pieces disappeared, but she still felt its remains
somewhere.
In any case, she would have answered differently.
Rahaf’s eyes marvelled, but these pair were not one of those that seemed to question her atypical
dark skin.
‘This is my first time meeting a Japanese person,’ Rahaf said. ‘You’re so nice,’ Rahaf continued:
‘Are the other Japanese people like you?’
Her eyes quickly wandered as if trying to find a clue for her response. She found none. The tickles
in her cheeks felt pleasant to her. Ah, screw it, she thought. ‘Yeah, I guess?’ she paused, then quietly
asserted: ‘I’m not too sure, though.’
She still sensed her wavering heart and tingling mind, even after their conversation shifted to talks
about their interests. Which, to both her and Rahaf’s surprise, were mutual.
‘You watch this show too?!’ She responded with a rising thrill. ‘Then do you know…’
‘Yeah!’ Rahaf replied. ‘Actually, my friends also watch this. It’s so interesting!’
The two of them solely had wide-open smiles on their faces towards their stranger.
She could feel the chipped pieces coming back to her self.
