A Collection of Short Stories
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University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 2009 Echoes From the Other Land: A collection of short stories Aso Heidari University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Heidari, Aso, "Echoes From the Other Land: A collection of short stories" (2009). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 8100. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/8100 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. 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ECHOES FROM THE OTHER LAND: A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES By Aso Heidari A Creative Writing Project Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through the Department of English Language, Literature and Creative Writing in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2009 © 2009 Aso Heidari 1 1 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-73633-3 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-73633-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Author’s Declaration of Originality I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this thesis and that no part of this thesis has been published or submitted for publication. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not infringe upon anyone’s copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my thesis, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. Furthermore, to the extent that I have included copyrighted material that surpasses the bounds of fair dealing within the meaning of the Canada Copyright Act, I certify that I have obtained a written permission from the copyright owner(s) to include such material(s) in my thesis and have included copies of such copyright clearances to my appendix. I declare that this is a true copy of my thesis, including any final revisions, as approved by my thesis committee and the Graduate Studies office, and that this thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other University or Institution. 2 2 Abstract: A Collection of Short Stories 3 3 To My Brothers Ako and Azad Heidari With Love 4 4 Acknowledgement It is an honour to record my gratitude to all who helped me to accomplish my thesis. I sincerely thank Dr. Louis Cabri for his indefatigable support, patience and his priceless comments and guidelines. I wish to express my appreciation to Dr. Susan Holbrook for agreeing to read this thesis and offer precious feedback. I am also very grateful to my dear friends Zeinab Mcheimach, Hollie Adams and Gavin Wolch for their never-ending support and friendship. To them all I owe genuine thanks. Without their assistance never could this thesis come to existence. 5 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS AUTHOR'S DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY iii ABSTRACT iv DEDICATION v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi I. Fountain 1 II. Wind Through My Hair 16 III.A River of Milk and Honey 36 IV.I Am One of Them 50 V.Glass Slippers 62 VI. Silk Shawl 71 AFTERWORD 95 VITA AUCTORIS 6 6 Fountain Anis leaned against the kitchen table. She squeezed and opened her left fist. The small pill coloured her palm pink. She put the tip of her right forefinger on the pill, swivelling it in the palm of her hand. Ali entered the living room adjoining the kitchen. “Where've you put the bank passbook?” he called out. Anis clenched her left hand. “Where?” he asked again. “I don't have it.” “Find it,” Ali said and walked back to the bedroom. Anis threw the pill in the trash basket and washed her hands. She walked out of the kitchen to the living room and placed on her forehead, tying it tightly at the back, a headscarf that was hanging on the hook next to the apartment’s door. The headscarf was there for her to cover her head whenever she opened the door, so that Ali made sure no man would see his wife’s hair. Lately, she had been using the scarf to squeeze her head when it ached. She paused, went back to the kitchen, bent over and took the watering can from near the fridge. Anis entered the balcony from the kitchen and watered the flower pots. Ali entered the living room wearing a suit. “Where are you?” he asked. Scanning the room, he noticed a small object in the lilacs. Ali went to the coffee table and lifted the plastic toy of a falcon which had landed in the plant. “Falcons everywhere in this apartment!” he murmured. The balcony door opened. “Headache again?” He threw the toy on the sofa and frowned. She tossed the empty watering can near the table and sat down at the computer in the living room. 7 7 Ali came closer and looked at the screen. Anis was writing a computer program in C++. He went to the kitchen, lifted the glass that was on the kitchen table, and drank the water in it. From the corner of his eye he watched Anis type rapidly. “Dirty dishes! Dirty dishes everywhere,” he said, slamming down the glass in the sink. Anis remained hunched at the monitor. “Didn't I tell you to find it?” She did not answer. “I am talking to you,” he yelled, walking towards her. “I said I didn't know,” she replied. “What do you know then? Huh?” He took the computer’s mouse and smacked it on the desk. “Who knows where anything is in this place?” Her eyes were fixed on the keyboard, hand on mouth. “You are the one who always has that bank pass thing, sir,” Anis said under her breath. Ali walked fast to the bedroom and took his bag out of the closet. The booklet was inside. He walked to the mirror and combed his hair. Ali raised a thick black eyebrow, inclined his body to the right and lifted his chin. He was patting his beard when he noticed a drawing above the mirror. It was a cat looking at a mirror, seeing a lion in its reflection. Ali removed it, tore it into pieces and put them in the pocket of his coat. He heard a knock on the apartment door, perfumed himself, glanced again in the mirror and walked out of the room. His friend Esi was at the door. Anis had untied the scarf to have it cover her hair and was greeting the man. She had almost closed the door after them when Ali called back to her, “Hey!” He put the pieces of the drawing in her palm and said, “Gimme your cell. Mine’s dead.” 8 8 Anis stared down at her palm as Ali pushed the door and entered the room, standing close beside her. “I’m expecting a phone call,” she said, raising her head. Ali went to the small tea table next to the sofa and picked up her cell. Anis stared at his footprints on the floor. *** After they left the bank, Esi and Ali stopped in front of a juice shop. Ali ordered two glasses of cantaloupe juice and looked at the street.