When Lily Gets Wet
"it's me who will get out, not you"said (Mannar) to his wife (Suhila) when they quarreled and she was about to leave with their son (Rasin).
He rushed to prevent her and insisted to go out because she is a female anyway and it was midnight and the streets almost empty except from human bats hanged around looking for a female hunt.
He wandered in the street aimlessly till he reached a small store, he went in and bought to a packet of cigarettes and began to smoke although he had given up smoking since (Rasin) was born. He found the cigarette burning and so were his feelings….
He wandered through alleys, walked on pavements, crossed streets randomly, he didn't know where to go, he wanted to forget his reality.
He was one of the most theatre authors in the country, his works were played on stage by a lot of actors, he used to tackle the society's problems in order to keep audience chapping continuously and unprecedentedly.
He wrote about many problems such as unemployment, administrative corruption, and violence of spouse. He was creative in his writing about self emotions and romance, whenever he tackled a problem, he suggested a solution for it. However, (Mannar) could not find even a semi solution for his own personal endless problems.
He might appear a successful person from the outside, but inside he was suffering person living in on endless sadness. he came from the countryside to settle in the city he was a student. He was distinguished in writing so he could easily enter the world of fame and lights but could no longer live in the countryside as he might have washing water drained on him, or he might be a topic of sarcasm for old people sitting in a miserable cafe mocking his pink tie because it didn't suit them.
He wrote a lot of elegant plays about love, his scenarios might be used by lovers in Valentine's Day. He made the heroine say words that forced every Youngman to fall in love deeply and when he used the hero to say those words he forced every young woman to dream of beautiful things.
However, he could not enjoy a complete love story, he was loved by woman he didn't love, whereas the woman he loved didn't love him.
When he managed to find the mutual love he lost it because of reckless decisions. His love hormones suffered from disorder so he used to mistaken his aim. Finally, he married (Suhila), a successful doctor whom he loved despite her cold feelings and he engaged to her as a way to escape his reality ...
While he was still wandering aimlessly, he remembered all his memories till suddenly he began to cheer up as it started to rain and he always loved autumn rain specially at night, and he always loved to write poetry in that atmosphere and in the company of a beloved whose hair became wet, so she threw herself between the lover's arms to hide from the rain drops just as a dove escaped from wet.
There he happily remembered asking (Suhila) to walk with him under the rain but she refused and called him crazy. He didn't hate her, but she came from another planet he didn't discover yet, all she was interested in were her work as a doctor and up to date fashion trends.
She was never interested in what was written by husband although he could move thousand of feelings but not (Suhila)….. She took care of his food and clothes, she used to buy him the most elegant ties, she cared about his external appearance whereas ignored his internal entity.
His misery was increased when he remembered an incident happened. Few months ago, he unconsciously listened to his wife talking to her friends, and when she was asked whether she was the love motivator for husband, she denied emotionlessly and she declared her hatred of literature and theatre, and that she complemented (Mannar) many time and read his writings without considering their content.
His mine was occupied by thoughts and memories, but he kept wandering under the rain till he looked like a wet street cat……
He wanted to light a cigarette so entered one of the buildings he passed by to light his matches, there he noticed a young girl entering the building and closing her umbrella…… The entrance was almost dark, so he decided to leave but then he freezed when he heard a sweet voice calling his name. He stood face to face in front of (Lily), who called his name, she was shocked by his miserable appearance, but he looked at her with happiness and longing. "Isn't it late" said (Mannar), "yes, but I have just finished my performance" Lily replied.
"I bet you are walking under the rain in order to prepare a new play, I memorize all your plays, and I know every symbol of beauty in your tender heart, sir" … said Lily. "what a great fate that arranged our meeting today" Said (Mannar)….. "This is my mother's house and I came to look after her because she is sick", replied Lily.
(Mannar) asked her " would you mind walking with me under the rain? " “with pleasure , sir " replied Lily ...
The hurried to rain, their hearts were full of happiness sufficient to eliminate their sadness.
It was late, the weather was so cold, the streets were empty, but the coincidence that gathered them was better than any date. (Mannar) was finally relieved when he found someone who could sink in his heart and move his emotion. (Lily) was not only an anxious reader of his writing but also a successful actress, she loved theatre because of (Mannar), she always loved his style, so she sent him many letters till he replied and asked her to meet him…... In that meeting, she acted one of his characters and (Mannar) noticed her Professional performance, so he advised her to make use of her talent. She acted many creative roles, she used to live the character with every detail and didn't leave it until she entered the clothes room getting ready to leave.
(Lily) exploded not only waves of continuous clapping but also many inspirations and ideas in Mannar's mind so he wrote the best words when he put (Lily) in his imagination.
She acted a lot of his plays, they both had a strange love; he loved her through his style and words, and she loved him through her performance ; when she acted emotional dialogues, she saw him only and not the actor, and when he wrote creatively, he saw her only his memory ...
with a reckless decision he made, he decided not to propose to her because he thought that that inspiration might be replaced by marital life requirements ... he thought that (Lily) would continue exerting efforts and that their love would continue silently till one day she received an invitation card to attend his wedding ...
" you were wrong, teacher" said (Lily) with a face full of tears and rain drops while still wandering with a face full of tears and silent as he lost words and arguments, he just admitted his fault, he took her hand to put a kiss on it but then he realized an engagement ring in her finger. He sighed and seemed like a ship master lost his way in the rough sea. (Lily) put her head on Mannar's shoulder and told him about her unsuccessful marriage in which she suffered every day…….
she was married to a man who didn't appreciate her feelings or her job, and when she had to choose between her job and her marriage, she preferred to quit acting and that night was the last time she could appear on the stage, she received applause that remained for half an hour, and on that night too she met her first and last motivator, (Mannar), to be the person bidding farewell to her noble art.
(Mannar) went home completely wet, his wife tried to apologize, she couldn't sleep since he left, she took off his shoes and went to bring him other clothes without saying a word, (Mannar) rushed to his office and closed the door he started to write a new playas it was still raining in his eyes, the name of the new play was " When Lily Gets wet" .
Then he collapsed and cried just like a child.
Twenty years later, that play become the crown of his plays, Lily's daughter played the role of the heroine. That play remained in darkness till the creative director (Rasin) presented it to perpetuate the memory of his father.
