It was 11 AM and David had been trying to get back to sleep for two hours, after he was awoken by the sound of a door slam. He knew it was probably his parents leaving early for work and he was glad he could finally spend time on his own, but he still needed some sleep.

As soon as he slipped out of consciousness, his phone vibrated and brought him back to reality. He opened his sleepy eyes and grabbed his phone.

This doesn’t look familiar, he thought, and put it back. The vibrations shortly started again, and it seemed like the person on the other end wasn’t planning to give up.

“Hello?” He finally decided to answer.

“Hi! Is this David?”

“Yes, who’s this?”

“It’s Sarah, we met last night at the ceremony.”

Last night? David squeezed his eyes, trying to remember where he was the previous night. I went back home as soon as classes ended, how is that even possible?

“I know it must be too early to call,” she hesitantly continued without waiting for his reply, “but I just wanted to invite you to my spoken word performance tonight, since you showed interest in the things I write.”

“You do spoken word?!” David cried out as he moved the pillow from under his neck and sat up to pay more attention.

“Umm, that’s what we’ve been talking about the whole night…?” Sarah said in a perplexed voice.

“Oh, yeah, sorry I got carried away when you said that. I think you have the wrong number. I am David, but probably not the David you were looking for.”

“Oh, I am so sorry,” Sarah sounded so nervous. “That must have been terribly disturbing.”

“No, no, not at all. Tell me more about your poetry, please.”

“It’s not poetry per se, just some ramblings that I let down on paper every now and then, and I’ve just been trying to speak them out lately.”

“What do you usually feel like writing about?”

Sarah had completely aroused his interest and he instantly wanted to know everything about what she was.

“A couple of things, actually,” Sarah wasn’t sure if she should be having this conversation with a stranger, but something about his excitement made her continue to reply. “Mostly though, I write about changing the world.”

“Woah. You know I’ve actually been thinking about that a lot lately?”

“About what?”

“How the world is in need for a complete makeover, yet how I usually stand helpless in the face of it all. More precisely,” he slowly paused then though he wasn’t done. She quietly allowed him some time to continue collecting his thoughts and it was the first time for him to not get interrupted by someone who would rush to continue his thoughts for him. It certainly felt nice, and he did smile.

“Well, I mean, more precisely, how I often get carried away with the system’s demands, and forget about my own demands in the process, or my own preferences that would allow me to make even a tiny difference in this world.”

They had reached a point where they couldn’t just hang up, though they were still two strangers who accidentally got in contact. Sarah didn’t believe in accidents though, and neither did David. They were meant to be talking, it was already written up there.

Sarah wanted nothing more than to continue hearing the thoughts of that stranger; something she always felt like doing whenever she was in the process of writing something. She would listen to what people have to say, yet write about the things they don’t. The things she could hear between their lines, the stories she would make up in her mind that might have been the reason behind certain words coming out the way they did. Yet more importantly, she felt like that person on the other end was someone worth discovering, and boy did he awfully long for someone to discover him. For the first time in such a long time, he felt like someone really wanted to listen. That maybe, just maybe, he had something to say that was worth listening to.

“Tell me more,” Sarah said after a few seconds of silence that still didn’t seem to irritate any of them. “What do you mean by the system’s demands?”

“Everything that the system makes it seem like it’s necessary to do, for if you don’t, you’ll literally have no place in the world. You’ll hardly ever get accepted at your dream job if you do not own a graduation certificate, from a preferably reputable academic institute, even though the books you might have read on your own about the field or the experience you somehow gained might make you a hundred times more fit for the job than someone graduating with highest honors. You’ll always be frowned upon if your capabilities should have gotten you somewhere of a high prestige, while you choose to do something completely unrelated because it’s where you find yourself the most, and decide to live off the small profit you make in a tiny rentable room. And it’s a whole different story if you’re a Middle Eastern guy who is expected to be gaining what will allow you to propose to the girl of your dreams, for her family would probably want her to have an extravagant wedding ceremony, a fully equipped house, and an extremely expensive shabka because she needs to compete with her cousin whose husband has spent way more than your own capabilities would allow you.”

Sarah frowned at that last part. She was a loud feminist who hated how guys made it seem like they have it much worse when it came to finding jobs, doing what they love, supporting a family, and so on. She didn’t comment though, because she knew that, to some extent, his words still held some truth. Girls can get away with things that guys will always be pressured to do, yet they will both continue to struggle in different ways.

David noticed he had been blabbering a lot while he originally wanted to stay silent and listen to everything this girl had to say. Having someone finally pay attention to the things he thinks about alone at night just made him feel like he was finally being handed a microphone to voice his thoughts to the world, and so he wanted to let everything out. Yet he chose to divert the conversation back to her. He was still never comfortable with the idea of being the one who talks more during conversations, especially when his words were all about himself.

“I could keep going on and on forever, but those and a lot more will always continue to hold me back from doing what you said you talk about. Changing the world. How do you choose to write about that? I’m curious.”

“I think about pretty much the same things,” Sarah replied as they both felt like the insides of the other person’s mind was very much alike the insides of their own, “At some point in my life I could see nothing in the world but the very messed up sides of it. I would attend psychology conferences and listen to people with disabilities or mental problems talk about their struggles with society, wondering why God chose to particularly bless me with a healthy mind and body while others out there are wrestling with a world that knows nothing about them. I would visit slums and deal with kids who were living somewhere below the level of the people we already refer to as living below the poverty line, and wonder why I was the daughter of my own parents and not theirs. I would write a research paper about the different parenting styles, and feel my jaw drop after every correlation I draw between the parent’s beliefs and how their children end up – as well as a good number of generations that follow, and how much parents can eventually mess their children up, myself included.”

David felt like he wanted to stay inside Sarah’s mind forever, and slowly get to discover everything that lies there.

“And you write about that?” He asked, not wanting to stop hearing her voice.

“Not really, no. These are just the kind of things that push me to write. I always felt this kind of helplessness you described, but I’ve also always been told I was talented, and that my words had some power. So I choose to believe that maybe I didn’t turn out to be homeless, or directly deal with a disability, or experience something traumatic, because maybe I was particularly chosen to change the world with the talent I’ve been given. I choose to believe that maybe the messed up parts I grew to carry pieces of from my parents or grandparents are particularly mine because I have been blessed with the ability to describe them, and so I might one day make someone feel a little less alone when they read about something they might be experiencing but never knew how to word out loud. Maybe I’m not meant to cure cancer, or end poverty; maybe I’m just meant to touch lives or minds that are already meant to do that. Maybe that’s how I’m meant to change the world.”

Sarah took a deep breath then continued, “Or maybe none of that is true. Maybe my words sound meaningless to those who hear them. Yet maybe letting them out might one day inspire me to do whatever it is I was meant for, upon hearing it out in my own voice, or reading it among my own words. Believing in that just makes it hurt a little less every day, I guess.”

“Woah!” David heard himself say. “I have no words, really.”

Sarah didn’t respond but continued listening to his breath filling her ears. She had never let this out to a stranger before – not even to a friend. She hadn’t exactly let it out to herself this way either. David made her feel things, he was the first person to really make her feel things, and she didn’t want this to end. They had just created something none of them had experienced before, and it was weird how they both felt they physically existed in that which they created, without actually being there. A new place, a new world that no one knew anything about.

“Can I…” David tried to ask. “Can I, come watch you tonight?”

“Please do!” Sarah replied right away, before he even finished the question. She embarrassedly pulled her lips together. “I mean, I would be honored to have you there, if you’ve got nothing planned” She said, trying to make up for her mistake, but David’s sincerest smile had already broken through his face and he felt butterflies flying all over his insides.

“Nope, nothing planned. We can grab a drink together afterwards if you’d like.”

If I’d like? I’d love to!! Sarah thought, but wisely chose not to let it out this time.

“Sure. No plans either.” She calmly said.

“Send me the location over WhatsApp?”

“Sure.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” She repeated after him.

None of them wanted this to end, but there was nothing left to say.

“Okay,” David said again. “I guess I’ll see you tonight then.”

“Okay.” She replied and they both started laughing.

“It was a pleasure talking to you, stranger.”

“The pleasure’s mine,” beautiful stranger, she continued in her head.

“Have a great day!” David finally said, and they both hung up.

He stared at the phone for a few more minutes, unable to grasp what had just taken place. His thumb hovered over her number, and clicked save.

My stranger, he typed, and let out a deep sigh.

My stranger, is finally here.

Basma Zaki