Yawm Alfasl

By Fatima Saeed

I dream of Yawm alfasl; the unending night pregnant with untold horrors. A lifeless moon eclipsed by blackened skies. Ravaging flood and terrible thunderstorms. Earth torn open from powerful underground quakes. Folk speak of ages past; of a once glittering sun and scintillating stars. We take to the mountains and caves, like Moses’s kindred in the beginning.

I awake in a cold sweat trembling from fear and exhaustion. There’s movement in the room; impossible to tell whether man or beast. I lay still till Nurse comes in, carrying a tray of injections. Maybe she’d be kind and unlock my chains today.