We are Closed Today
Duaa Hasanin
Egypt
I read because I fear days that are not shaded by books.
Dua’a wonders what days hold for her away from reading, wary that she will have no choice but to face the wretched noise and the acceleration of time in the future. She is a daughter of this fast-growing era after all, who was forced to hold her breath and watch her days pass her by, until one day she learned to run without touching the ground – just like the protagonists do in her books!
Reading gave her the chance to live a little slower, and to draw images with the utmost care and detail so that the image becomes clear to her, and ideas are presented at her pace, allowing them to sink in with nuance as opposed to swallowing them whole all at once.
Just like a heavenly gift, reading is always at her side, giving her company and the chance to envision beauty so she can almost touch it. Dua’a is completely obsessed with her love for reading and everything that relates to it such as bookshelves and literary characters, hoping against hope that her days shall always remain under the sweet shade of books.