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What symbolizes her strength

A short story.

By Lobna KowsarPublished 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago 6 min read
5
What symbolizes her strength
Photo by Camylla Battani on Unsplash

Lisa knew this woman could read situations just as well as she could read hands; she could tell just by that insincere smirk on her red lips and her mysterious slender eyes fixed upon her in the damp mist. She felt the urgent need to leave the foggy, narrow street which turned into a claustrophobic space after meeting her pen pal for the first time alone.

****

Like every early morning, Lisa checked her emails, lousily. She found a mail that clicked her eyes. ‘R. U. Kozi’ she silent-read the name of the sender and thought to herself, ‘what the- Who wants an adventure at this time of the weekend!? Am I Cozy? I feel unbalanced. God, I hate coffee!

She looked at the email a little more and decided to leave it alone, ‘I feel like I should delete it. What if it’s a bug? Whatever.’ Leaving her house for a short walk, she jogged and stretched and wondered about that mail. She returned, took a shower during which she guessed what would be inside that message, sat down with a cup of coffee and clicked on the previously highlighted email.

It said:

Good afternoon. How are you? I am quite sure you’re fine. Let me introduce myself. I am Zara Kozi, 25 years old and I am looking forward to having a good time with you.

I live in the East Inning Street (close, isn’t it?) and I know you may have never seen me before but I, without a doubt, know you quite well.

There are some things I’ll take the difficulty to warn you about before diggin’ into the main course: you shouldn’t call for help since this isn’t a thing to be worried about.

You should keep in mind that there are dangerous people around you. Not that any are my allies but that’s a gentle reminder.

Now, the thing I wanted to tell. Everyone who knows who you, detests you. They can’t stand you or whatever comes out of your mouth.

Listen, I know you have heard worse and that is why this might not be hardest thing to believe. The truth is I know more than you about yourself .

See, I don’t have any feelings like hatred for you. And if you want to know why, you can reply to this as soon as you’re done reading it. Well, you know that you will have to respond anyway but I just wanted to give you a nice reason to, you know.

I want you to consider being antisocial because I think I have what you are looking for so forget me not.

Soon you will need this message.

Oh, by the way, I like that bull wallpaper on your laptop’s home screen or whatever: interesting.

Hoping for the reply, Kozi.

Taking off her glasses and cleaning them with the table cloth, she thought of punchlines to start her first sentence with. Lisa murmured to herself as she began to write, ‘I don’t care who you are. Just thought of replying ‘cause I am bored. Tell me about your favorite food. Is ghosting lovers your only hobby or have you got other things to do too. If so, tell me what they are. Kinda felt nice to meet you, oh we haven’t really met. Well, I hope you had fun finding everything out about me. Just so you know, this is not the first time my laptop was hacked and yeah thanks. I like my bull wallpaper too. It symbolizes my strength.

She didn’t write any of that. She simply typed:

Thanks for not threatening me like last time. I am pleased see you again, Zara. This may sound better but this time I wouldn’t scare you away, I promise. I won’t ask how you look, what you do, etc.

Now anyway, tell me more about Finn.

With that being send, she switched to main screen and examined the picture of the bull which was captured in a running motion towards the camera.

****

After about a month of exchanging chats, Lisa received a brief message from Zara which said:

Come on let’s meet each other. If you’re interested, you can come near my block and I will take you for a walk. Time- 9:15 PM Tomorrow night. Alright?

Lisa didn’t mind the time but somewhere deep in her heart she wished this didn’t have to happen. She felt her palms sweat just by thinking about meeting someone she has being speaking to for such a long time.

She realized what a great friend Zara was but the thought of meeting her in person, facing someone so toxic, untrustworthy and gloomy made unenthusiastic shivers run down her back. Some of the thoughts whirling in her head were, ‘What do I know about that woman? I don’t even know if she really is a woman. Does she really have all my details? She’d never mentioned any, oh, that’s because what if I turned her in then these emails would become evidence. Oh God! I am gonna go anyway so why am I freaking out.

“Here, Lia I mean Lisa!” said the only person from the other side of the empty road.

“Zara?” Lisa muttered in surprise. After crossing the street, she remarked, “Wow, I never thought you would look like this. You look very beautiful, that’s what I mean.”

Zara smiled and stretched her arm out to the direction of a dead end. Lisa's intuitions suggest to run far away from that spot but she walked along anyway.

Kicking away the stray cat, Zara whispered, “Lisa, it’s so good to see you. I am glad you agreed on meeting. It’s kinda foggy, isn’t it?”

“Hmm,” Lisa voiced.

“Can I see your palms?” Zara asked intriguingly.

Lisa wiped her palm sweat on her shirt and uncomfortable displayed them in front of Zara. She looked at her scrutinizing the thin lines and spaces of her hand.

“Oh Lisa, I don’t want to say this to you but I think you might wanna know, you are obsessed with living a miserable life. And I can tell you why, this line shows how your speech is influencing your future. And all over your hand is written that you are a disgraceful person. And look, I can tell you when you will die. Wouldn’t you want to know,” Zara explained with an eerie, almost fake beam.

Lisa pretended to be enthralled by her just to find a way out of there. Just as Lisa was about to flee, Zara said with a clever grin, “I think I will leave you here. I am sorry, Lisa, but someone is waiting for you.”

Mystery
5

About the Creator

Lobna Kowsar

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