nosa and lighti was online,
my dad was watching the news
the kids were watching cartoons
my brothers were playing play station
my sister was working on her laptop plugged into the wall
my other brother heating food in the microwave
the lights were all switched on everything was so bright, u had to tighten ur eyes a little bit. just so it wont hurt..
then with no warning. it all went off at 8:15 pm
the first thing u get is
( coal black) darkness, and everything goes silent including ourselves. trying to comprehend the situation.
then you hear feet running on the floor, you hear some crying and laughter. you hear some drawers being opened and closed, doors opening, people going down the stairs, u can also hear the matches being lit, murmur.
everything is quite you can actually hear each other now!
since i was in the basement, i kept quite for a long time, listening and grasping on each and every dark inch that i couldn't see, on each sound i was able to hear it was along time since i ever heard this much details. all so very clear and alive.
so i stay there i do not move.
then i see light approaching from behind the door, its "ahmad" my little brother holding a lit candle in his hands, i could see the light reflecting on his nose glasses and chin, he asks: why are u still here? come up and take this candle, we have a lot of candles upstairs. with a huge smile on his excited face!
i look and i smile back: ok 7beby, leave it here and i will be right behind u..
i look at the candle how its light is so subtle touches only the edges of lines that define objects, barely enough but quite enough to shape them, including myself.
my eyes are open now, its dark relaxing the mind and eyes, giving them a break!.
i stand i take the candle and go up stairs.
the laughter would not stop couse my sister was here with her kids mashalah four of them + my brother, so that was a bunch of excited kids who were hyper all at once.
i see candles, on the coffee table in the middle of the living room there was my dad and my sister sitting on the couch facing the candles, talking.
kids were running with flash lights in their hands. maids coming in with more candles spreading them around.
i look at my dad and smile. i go and sit on the opposite couch and i lay on it. i keep looking at them, no one is looking at me coz its dark where iam now.
there was no tv, no radio or stereo, no computers no phones no fridges sounds no microwaves beeping, no acs .... it was only the living things that made any sound. and it was the most beautiful moment i have ever had in a very long time.
the kids were talking to each other making jokes running playing hide and seek, things we used to do when we were little. things they do not do..
they were simply children. just happy children. They didn’t need a machine to make them happy, they were full of joy..
then my brothers came down and they were pissed coz they were playing some game and it went off. they had to sit with us now. in a few minutes all of this wasnt strange or weird anymore, everyone was talking to everyone, they adapted so quickly they felt familiar as if they knew this before, their bodies wanted this needed it.. they were happy. i felt everyone in the room was happy they are all together now. i was looking at us as a family all together. i joined in ofcourse it made me happy to, then i kept thinking, how my mom would have loved this.
life is very strange...i was thinking ... unpredictable and strange.
suddenly I missed one of my friends, so I simply call to say hello. I didn’t click on her name and chat I just called her it was nice hearing her voice I was happy to hear her voice.
i swear i wanted it to last some more. I wanted it to last.
my niece my baby niece "nosa" was fascinated with the candle light we couldn't get her to stay away form it. she kept getting her face closer to the candle, as if she wanted to get in, looking at it was not enough. She was so quite as if hypnotized with curiuosity!
in 30 minutes no electricity, got us 20 years back in time. i mean the feeling of 20 years back. it was beautiful. that's all i can say. it was very beautiful.
Only 30 minutes of mere simplicity and nature. We are nature part of life's nature. It all stopped as soon as the lights got back on. everything was dark again just like it has always been..that is when my other niece "7oor"sung: happy birthday to you, then innocently blew out the candle...