Later, sitting in the car, in the parking lot, watching the rain come down, I turn on the engine so I can use the windshield wipers once, twice and even a third time before turning the engine off again. With both

He grew up next to the Pyramids.  If he were to take the stairs all the way to the rooftop, he could see their ghostly geometry in the Giza haze.  But these days he never goes to the rooftop, too many k

One taxi comes to a screeching halt, followed by another right behind it, and both drivers, as if practiced, throw open their doors, leap out and begin yelling, pointing at one another. Almost immediately, there

And then there is the often told tale that, over the years, has taken on the stuff of familial legend, about the little boy who on his third birthday was just learning how to blow out candles.  Understandabl

I am simply looking out the window, minding my own coffee shop business, when I count three red buses go by, one right after the other. I don’t remember there being so many red buses. Not only that but they’r

My backstreet barber is dying. There is no other word for it, no other explanation. He has lost far too much weight and some of his important front teeth have suddenly gone missing, leaving him with a hollow blac

I motion the waitress to come over and when she arrives, I say, “Did you see that?” “Sorry?” “Look at all that food they left behind,” I say, pointing to the table next to me. She follows my

Ellie says almost nothing to anyone. But for four going on five, more is expected from her. The mother is worried about her non-talking, thinking it will grow into something bigger, more dangerous, while the dad

His hands are not soldierly. They are small, an alabaster white. And when he first comes into my office, he forgets where he is, who I am, and salutes. Almost immediately, he realizes his mistake, saying, “Sorr

There is a farm near Wafra that, if truth be told, is more zoo than farm. To begin with there is a row of cages teeming with monkeys and green and yellow parrots. Under the palms there are wiry, rickety pens for

She sits in the shade, on a small three-legged wooden stool, her back snuggly against a tree, looking out over the harbor. Meanwhile, the wife, with friends and assorted children, are lounging in the green grass,

With the seaside to his right, a cluster of dusty palms and no-nothing grass to his left, he strides down the Corniche, snorting like some water buffalo, clasping those tiny barbells in both hands, swinging his a