Twists!

You know this feeling when you look into someone’s eyes and you know something really bad had happened? You try to predict what he’s about to tell you, you think that someone close might have passed away, or maybe your best friend had an awful accident. The whole process takes about a couple of seconds, but they are seconds that feels like hours.

This week, I’ve had this. I woke up on my mother’s panicking voice as she fights to grasp a breath. I’m terribly disturbed and I start to run to find out what happened.

“Mum what’s wrong?” I asked in horror.

She mumbles something as she uneasily tries to input a number into her mobile phone.

“Mum, WHAT’S WRONG?’

*is it my dad? Did he got tired at work

“Hello, Magdy? Where are you? Are you on your way? I’m waiting for you at home?” she speaks to the mobile in a cracked voice. I’ve heard her speak in that voice a couple of times ago, this isn’t good.

“Mum, WHAT    THE…… IS WRONG?” my knees and stomach start to feel funny.

*is it kenzy??? Shahd??? Anas??? (my nieces and nephew)… Is it my brother?  

“Islam, it’s your uncle, he died this morning.” She finally informs me.

I froze as I tried to process this piece of news. My eyes must have looked blank for a second.

“Oh my God, are you serious?” I never expected it to be my uncle. Should I blame myself for that?

Here’s the thing. I think that anyone of us has some people so close to him that he could never imagine his life without; those are the main characters of your novel. Your novel will most probably continue after one is gone, but it’s still a major turn of events… a twist…But sometimes the side characters are just as important as the main characters. Their impact, I believe may be as strong as that of the main characters, mainly on a subconscious level.

I have lost a main character before. A twist in my story whose impact I’m still struggling to dust off. Please God, the story won’t stand anymore twists!

RIP uncle,