Chapter 4

Rima’s eyes filled with tears as she spoke, as if she was still seeing the events in front of her. She raised her hands, then wiped away her tears and continued: “I saw blood on my mother’s face. I did not understand or comprehend what was happening. The air quickly filled with smoke, and I began to feel suffocated, but my brother’s hand held my hand. For a few moments, the sound of my crying began to disappear and the feeling of suffocation increased, and I could no longer hear my mother’s voice. I tried to look at my brother.

Among the clouds of smoke, I saw a person wearing a mask over his face pulling my brother, so his hand slipped from my hand.

Then I heard my brother’s voice trying to scream and repeating, “My sister is inside, my little girl is still inside.” Then the door next to me moved and a person appeared with a mask over his face. He cut the belt and then carried me. out of the car”

Rima took a deep breath and then continued: “I kept looking for my mother with my eyes until I saw her lying on something and they were taking her into a car far away from me. She was looking at me with her eyes as if she was saying goodbye to me, or perhaps this is what I imagined. I could not see my father, then she was placed inside a car in which my brother was sleeping and His face is a breathing mask like the one placed over my nose. I held on to my brother, clinging to me until the darkness embraced me. I do not remember anything after that except waiting at the door of the nursing home at the time of visits, hoping that my father would appear and come to take me, but as time passed, I lost hope, especially after the disappearance of my mother, Nahid, who was “The only one who comes to the nursing home to visit me.”

Nahid said, “Sorry, my little girl, my travel was necessary. Do you remember anything about your father’s name, your mother’s name, or even your brother’s name?”

Rima replied, “Yes, my mother’s name was Hayat, and my brother’s name was Waseem, but I cannot remember my father’s name, so I used to call him Kimwa, as my mother used to do.”

Nahid said, “Well, do not be sad. Today you will appear on my program and we will show pictures of articles written about a car accident that occurred on the same date that you mentioned, and we hope to God that we will succeed in reuniting you.”

Muhammad said, “I also have to go to the woman I told you about, Ms. Nahid, and I will have her follow the program. I ask your permission to leave.”

Nahid replied, “In God’s care.”

Nahid got up and held Rima’s hand while smiling, then told her that she had to change her clothes and then she would come back and get them. Nahid moved towards her bedroom, and after a few minutes she returned to Rima and then they set off for the Media Production City.

At exactly nine o’clock Cairo time, inside one of the live broadcast buildings in the Media Production City, the broadcast of the program “Stories of the Past” by the great journalist Nohad Al-Rigdawi began, and her words began by describing her last years in Egypt before she prepared to travel to complete her higher studies abroad. She told everything. About her encounter with the little girl at the door of one of the orphanages, and how children carefully record the memories of the little girl Rima so that she could one day find her family, then how she lost track of her when she returned again to Egypt, and how happy she felt when fate wanted to bring them together again at a wedding. Her niece, and here she is today, the little girl Sarah, a delicate girl studying medicine. Despite being an orphan and having no family member, she was able to defy the difficulties and achieve one of her dreams.

The journalist responded with some pride as she directed her speech to the girl sitting in front of her, “Rima, tell me about you and how you got into medical school.”

“Thank you for giving me this opportunity, which might bring me together with my family. I have gone through many hardships that almost ended my life or my dreams, but with God’s care for me and then the help of my sisters from the care home (Iman and Manar) and my brothers who I met in the street when I was a child, no more than twelve years old, after I... For the second time, I was able to escape from the care home because of the injustice I was exposed to there, and these young men protected me and supported me so that I could complete my studies. Yes, had God not put them on my path in life, I do not know what my fate would have become. Perhaps my story would need hours and hours to tell you. But in order not to waste the program’s time, I will suffice with narrating the beginning of my life and what I remember or tried to keep in my diary about the accident. Perhaps my mother will hear me or my father will hear me if they are alive, or he will recognize my brother and strive for us to become a family again.”

“Well, I am happy with that, but first you must promise me that you will write a book with all the details of your life, even if you find your family.”

“I promise you”

After Rima narrated part of her life, she remained silent as she tried to wipe away her flowing tears, and broadcaster Nahid also tried to speak while hiding her tears and said:

“Okay, my little girl, these are the papers about the accident that you used to put in your notebook in the past, and these are the articles that we were able to collect about the accident. Anyone of them should see them and contact us on these numbers that will be placed on the screen. As for you, Rima, I will help you publish a book about your story. You must be a role model for many, by challenging the difficulties, whatever they may be, and setting a goal to reach it. Thank you, and thank you for being with me tonight.”

“Thank you very much, Mama Nahid.”