Omaima Abdelaziz's “Streetlights”… When Love Crosses the Boundaries of the Familiar

A short story by author Omaima Abdelaziz
From the short story collection “Outside the Bounds of Time”

In “Streetlights,” Omaima Abdelaziz opens the door to a world where fantasy meets some of the simplest and deepest human emotions. What begins with a train journey to Alexandria and the mysterious appearance of unfamiliar creatures gradually becomes the story of an extraordinary bond between Samar and “Romeo,” where companionship and care form a language that needs no words.

Streetlights

The road is still long. I'm tired of the distance. I've covered about a third of it. Whenever I see the streetlights racing past me, I find myself counting them without meaning to.

Today I won't.

I just want to get to Alexandria.

I won't count them.

One, two, three...

What's that sound?

We've finally arrived. How did I not notice the time passing?

“Please get off quickly. There's an emergency and everyone must leave the train.”

Voices, confusion and loud noises from the front of the train suddenly silenced the chatter.

Everyone rushed outside, trying to escape the frightening noise whose source none of us understood.

We all headed toward the station gate, then stopped in terror.

Creatures more than three metres tall were approaching from the left. Each wore a helmet like those worn by miners.

They were emerging from a gigantic opening in the ground. Every now and then, they made that terrifying noise as they moved toward the station's outer gate, paying no attention to us.

It seemed they had come for something and would eventually return to wherever they had come from.

Or at least that was what everyone hoped.

We slipped out through a small gate they hadn't noticed.

Curiosity took hold of me.

Where were they going? Did they live beneath the earth?

I followed them cautiously.

My bag struck the iron fence.

They all stopped.

They looked toward me, so I immediately changed direction and pretended I was heading for the tram.

Then I went back to following them.

They reached the Corniche, where traffic was moving slowly because of congestion. They stopped behind the cars, their eyes fixed on the red traffic light as though it had frozen them in place.

Terrified drivers sped away as soon as the light turned green.

The creatures continued walking amid the screams of everyone who saw them, until the Corniche was completely deserted except for a few young people and the police.

Police officers tried to communicate with them, without the slightest response.

Eventually everyone became exhausted. The young people began returning home, especially after realizing that the creatures appeared to be peaceful.

Several days passed as they wandered through the streets.

Residents became accustomed to them and to their loud sounds. Some befriended them, and children even began climbing on them. Others treated them aggressively, and the creatures defended themselves only until the attacks stopped.

But I was in another world.

I wasn't frightened of them. Quite the opposite.

I felt there was some connection between us, as though I belonged with them.

If it weren't for my appearance, my deep set eyes, my wavy black hair, even my short height, everything about me showing how different we were, I might have believed it.

Perhaps they were still young, like me.

My balcony overlooks the Corniche.

Every morning when I opened the window, a hand would reach toward me holding a bunch of flowers, with an innocent smile hiding behind them.

It was one of them.

He spent the rest of each day standing outside my balcony, looking at me whenever I approached and smiling silently.

I named him Romeo.

At night, I would sit on the balcony and look at him for a long time.

Sometimes he would come closer and extend his hand. I would reach out and touch it. He would close his eyes slightly, then release my hand and take two steps back, standing opposite me once again.

I began waking early just to see him.

I had never seen anything like the tenderness in his eyes.

Such a pure heart.

But what nonsense was this?

Had I fallen in love with a creature when I didn't even know where he came from?

How had this happened?

It was the eternal struggle between love and reason.

Does reason commit suicide when love rings the doorbell?

This was madness.

What could I do?

Leave Alexandria?

Go away?

I hate long journeys.

And I hate the streetlights along the road.

“Romeo, do you understand me?”

Romeo nodded.

“Can you speak like me? Or write in any language?”

He shook his head from side to side and looked at me sadly.

“It's all right. Don't be sad. What matters is that you understand me. I'll talk to you every day because I have no one to talk to except myself. My name is Samar. I love life and freedom. I don't know anything about you, but what matters to me is that you're here and that you care about me.”

Samar began talking to Romeo every day.

He listened attentively.

He cried when she cried, and when she was happy, he smiled and shared her joy.

One night, Samar woke to thunder and flashes of lightning.

Heavy rain began to fall.

She hurried to find something to cover him with, opened the balcony door and looked outside.

He wasn't there.

She called loudly:

“Romeo... Romeo!”

He didn't hear her.

He didn't come.

The following morning, she hurried back to the balcony.

Romeo had disappeared.

And with him disappeared her companion and friend.

She cried for a long time and waited for him for several days, until news reached her that all the creatures had vanished and the enormous gateway had been closed.

No one knew why they had come.

And no one knew why they had disappeared.

Children cried. Faces became sombre.

Everyone missed their kindness and their pure, gentle hearts.

Samar could no longer bear Alexandria without Romeo.

She left on the first train.

As she travelled, she looked at the streetlights differently.

Romeo had been about the same height.

And the light on the front of his helmet looked just like them.

She kept staring outside, whispering softly:

“Romeo... Romeo...”

Then she suddenly jolted as the train stopped.

A voice called out:

“The train has arrived at Sidi Gaber Station.”