Short Story - My Stepmother's Diary, Author - Metwally Bassal (Egypt)

My Stepmother's Diary

By: Metwally Bassal

Egypt

I always heard that unfair saying, often repeated, "May God take your stepmother!" Since I was only seven years old, I considered it unjust, especially since I lived with a stepmother who was incredibly kind, compassionate, and loving; so much so that I became more attached to her than to my own mother!

I didn't know the details of the divorce at that early age, but I did know that my mother had relinquished her right to custody of me to my father! She was content with just one hour each week, only sixty minutes, to see me and check on me! What was strange was that my kind stepmother allowed her to come to our house, visit me, and sit with me for an hour. I saw her with my own eyes every time, she welcoming her and receiving her as if she were her own sister, not her husband's ex-wife. She would even inquire about her well-being and always tell her, "If you encounter any problem at work or elsewhere, call me, and I will solve it for you immediately. I consider you my sister, and I want you to consider me the same!"

Indeed, because she held a prestigious position in the local council, she helped my mother and was instrumental in getting her transferred from the remote school where she worked to one closer to her home.

Every week, my mother would come to see me and sit with me for a full hour. However, some strange things would happen during this hour, which I didn't notice. But the recurrence of these tragic events instilled fear and questions in me. Once, the ceiling fan fell and shattered. Thankfully, none of us were underneath it, or something terrible would have happened. Another time, the television exploded and caught fire, nearly setting the house ablaze. A third time, my poor stepmother was struck on the shoulder by a lightbulb hanging from the kitchen ceiling, which shattered and caused a severe cut. Her blood ran red all over the tiles!

These strange and frightening incidents kept happening. Every time my mother visited, disaster would strike, and the house would become a hotbed of misfortune. I even began to dread the hour she returned home! One night, I heard my father, in a fit of anger, say to his wife: "I will not wait for another tragedy. I will not allow that wretched woman into our house again. I wish I hadn't listened to you when you asked me to let her see the boy..." But my stepmother objected, saying: "It is wrong to deprive a mother of seeing her son, no..."

 matter what. Please reconsider this decision. Surely she has nothing to do with what's happening." The last time I saw my mother, I was crying. Despite all her and my stepmother's attempts to comfort me, I couldn't stop. I felt like my heart would break in two! I couldn't hate her despite everything that was happening, and I was very worried and afraid of what would happen this time. This time, my father was taken to the hospital. The doctors said he had suffered a severe drop in blood pressure, which could have led to his death! Even though he had been perfectly healthy the previous days!

My father was discharged from the hospital and returned home, but my mother never came back. I never saw her again, and I heard some time ago that she had died. Neither my father nor I attended her funeral.

Years later, while my kind stepmother was bedridden due to an illness, I stumbled upon her diary. She had forgotten it on the nightstand, even though she always kept it hidden in her jewelry box, locking it securely!

I was shocked by the wicked plans she had been hatching to make the day my mother would come home a dark and ominous one! What shocked me even more was that she didn't hesitate to injure herself more than once—once with a cut on her shoulder, another time on her hand—all to make my mother look like a demon in my eyes, in my father's eyes, and in everyone else's! I couldn't believe my eyes when I read how she slipped a pill into my father's food, the pill that caused him to suffer that sudden drop in blood pressure!

I found myself weeping bitterly, falling to my knees, as I read how, through her prestigious position, she had my mother lose her job as a teacher in the Ministry of Education, forcing her to work as a cleaner in a hospital.

 About Metwally Bassal

• Born in 1971

Poet, storyteller, and novelist,

• His published works in poetry, short stories, and novels include:

 Novels

• Sha'ban in the Lost (published by Amarji Printing and Publishing House, Iraq, August 2023)

• The Old Man

 Short Story Collections:

• The Rooster with the White Comb (published by Al-Wahibi Printing, Publishing, and Distribution House, 2021)

• Love in Extra Time (published by Nile and Euphrates Foundation for Printing, Publishing, and Distribution, 2021)

• The Earthquake of Doomsday (published by Amarji Al-Iraqia, 2024)

 Classical Arabic Poetry Collections:

• Sailors Without a Harbor (published by Al-Wahibi Printing, Publishing, and Distribution House, 2021)

• Before the Session is Adjourned (published by Dar Al-Wahibi Printing, Publishing and Distribution, 2022

• Who Shouts in the Square, published by Amargi Printing and Publishing

 A collection of colloquial poetry:

• I Wish I Could See the Nile Laughing, published by Metabook Printing, Publishing and Distribution, 2021

• Egyptian Songs, published by Amargi Printing and Publishing

• In the field of autobiography, Amargi Printing and Publishing published his autobiography as part of the series "Shining Names in the City's Sky," the third volume in this series. The first edition was published in 2023.

Unprinted works:

 Novels:

• The Spring That Never Comes

• A Call After Midnight

 Short Story Collections:

• A Horse's Tragedy

• The Man Who Stole a Bear (a collection of very short stories)

A collection of classical Arabic poetry:

• A Date with Hope

 A collection of colloquial poetry:

• Why, My Country?

• Life is a Moment of Love • Ramadan Diaries

• He has published numerous poems and stories in print and online magazines and newspapers.

• He has won several short story, flash fiction, and poetry competitions.

• He was selected as a member of many short story competition judging panels and poetry judging panels.