Well done and mission accomplished. I had to tell myself it was fiction but it felt very very real and relevant to what is happening today. to think it was written a couple years ago during the pandemic. very well done.
There are times when I find fiction, especially short fiction, to be a better platform to express ideas and vulnerability than journalism. This is one of those times.
I've seen people commenting online about this same concept ("Please let it not be a Muslim, please let it not be a Muslim" whenever there's a mass shooting), so this feels very reasonable to me. As a white American, I can attest that we do not do this at all, even though it's usually us, and I actually find myself hoping that it *is* a white American, because then the conversation can't be about race or nationality, and it has to be about something else. Of course I'd rather we didn't have to have a conversation at all, but it's frustrating whenever there's an opportunity to blame the "other" instead of addressing the real issues (not that we ever really get to the real issues, but still).
Can’t say I haven’t felt exactly like the dad every time this sort of tragedy happens.
Well done and mission accomplished. I had to tell myself it was fiction but it felt very very real and relevant to what is happening today. to think it was written a couple years ago during the pandemic. very well done.
There are times when I find fiction, especially short fiction, to be a better platform to express ideas and vulnerability than journalism. This is one of those times.
Thank you for reading it 🤍
I've seen people commenting online about this same concept ("Please let it not be a Muslim, please let it not be a Muslim" whenever there's a mass shooting), so this feels very reasonable to me. As a white American, I can attest that we do not do this at all, even though it's usually us, and I actually find myself hoping that it *is* a white American, because then the conversation can't be about race or nationality, and it has to be about something else. Of course I'd rather we didn't have to have a conversation at all, but it's frustrating whenever there's an opportunity to blame the "other" instead of addressing the real issues (not that we ever really get to the real issues, but still).
Powerful piece, Mr. Zidan
Thank you for reading!