Behind the Mask: A Short Story by Omaima Abdelaziz

A short story by Omaima Abdelaziz, from her collection Kharij Nitaq Al-Zaman (Beyond the Bounds of Time)

A medical mask is designed to protect the person wearing it. But what happens when it becomes a means of hiding from the world?

In The Mask, author Omaima Abdelaziz explores the unexpected ways people sought refuge behind an ordinary piece of fabric during a devastating pandemic.

Through the lives of a disgraced politician, a woman struggling with her appearance, and a man haunted by the loss of his family, she reveals how the same mask can conceal dishonesty, ease shame or offer comfort. Her story ends with a painful irony: for some of those most in need of protection, wearing a mask is almost unbearable.

The Mask

By Omaima Abdelaziz

A mysterious epidemic swept across the world, claiming millions of lives. Fear gripped everyone. Streets remained deserted for months, warnings appeared everywhere, and the disease made no distinction between rich and poor.

Even a visit to the hospital had become a dangerous undertaking. Doctors and medical staff were soldiers fighting on the front line against an invisible enemy. The disease seemed like a new form of terror, striking without warning or mercy. Those fortunate enough to escape its grip lived in constant fear that their turn might still come.

People clung to whatever offered hope of survival. The medical mask became an essential part of everyday life, a simple piece of fabric covering most of the face. Everyone grew accustomed to wearing one. Some became so attached to their masks that they discovered uses far beyond protection from illness.

Alaa El-Dabbagh, a member of parliament accused of corruption, found his mask particularly useful.

He had made countless promises to the people of his constituency: roads would be paved, accumulated rubbish would be cleared, and a modern healthcare centre would be built. He had even collected half a million Egyptian pounds to equip the proposed facility with the latest medical technology.

For months, the mask helped him avoid recognition and confrontation.

Eventually, however, his constituents had had enough. Forgetting their fear of the epidemic, they gathered outside his apartment and waited for him. This time, there was no escaping them. He was forced to return their money, and once his mask was removed, the confrontation was filmed and his disgrace spread across social media.

For Nahed El-Darmali, a woman in her forties, the mask offered an entirely different kind of escape.

Nahed had become addicted to cosmetic surgery. When her latest procedure went terribly wrong, leaving her nose disfigured, she withdrew from the world. She told everyone she had travelled abroad, hoping the story would put an end to their questions.

But life behind the walls of her villa soon became unbearable. Trapped by the consequences of her own obsession, she grew tired of her surroundings and even lost interest in watching television.

Then she discovered the freedom a medical mask could offer.

With most of her face concealed, she could leave the villa without worrying that anyone might notice what had happened to her. She began shopping, running errands and meeting her friends again. For the first time since the failed operation, she could move through the world without embarrassment.

Ahmed Madkour's relationship with the mask was more heartbreaking.

He had miraculously survived a train accident that killed his entire family. But surviving the tragedy did not mean escaping its consequences.

After leaving a psychiatric hospital, Ahmed continued to struggle with depression. He rarely ventured outside. The thought of facing other people's eyes was unbearable. Every glance seemed to carry an accusation, as though the world blamed him for surviving when his family had not.

One day, he watched television footage showing people everywhere wearing masks and keeping their distance from one another.

To his surprise, the sight brought him enormous relief.

With his own face hidden, he felt protected from the judgement he imagined in the eyes of strangers. He cautiously stepped outside. When he realized that nobody was paying him any particular attention, he began leaving home more frequently.

Before long, going out had become part of his daily routine.

Each time Ahmed returned home, he would remove his mask and place it in front of him.

He was grateful for what it had given him. It had done more than make it possible to leave the house. It had helped him escape his isolation.

In his loneliness, the mask had become a companion. A strange friendship had formed between them, and after years of silence, Ahmed finally felt that he had found someone willing to listen.

For many people, the mask had become a refuge.

But for Seham, Enayat, Fahmy, Samir, Helmy and the other patients in the respiratory hospital, the experience was painfully different.

Already struggling for every breath, they found the mask suffocating, a nightmare they could hardly endure.

And yet they were among the people who needed it most.

Source: Kharij Nitaq Al-Zaman (Beyond the Bounds of Time), by Omaima Abdelaziz.