Actually, in recent years, the sidewalks of our city have become more beautiful. Today, Tunisians grow olives, oranges, and bitter orange trees on the sidewalks in front of their homes. They grow these trees for decoration or in order to breathe fresh air but they don’t grow them to harvest the fruit. The sprouts of these trees are sometimes stolen in the dead of night and they leave behind empty holes in the soil which look like hungry mouths.

Had I been able to return again, I would prefer to a stone in a wall of the Medina, I would carry on my shoulds the history of the city and contemplate calmly what happens around me.

Had I been able to return again, I would have chosen to be a stone at the marina of the old wharf of  Bizerte. I will carry on with my life while being rooted in that place for hundreds of years. I will amuse myself by counting pedestrians’ footsteps in winter and tickling barefooted children in summer. I will observe the gulls playing patiently while waiting for the fish to fall from the fishing nets, just like the cats of the marina who are lurking and getting ready to pounce on their feast.

Had I been able to be reborn, I would have hoped to be a Bizertian cat with golden eyes, that shine brightly day and night. So please God, If get reincarnated in another life, Let me be a  normal Tunisian white cat, with black, brown, or orange spots. Let me be a normal cat who watches pedestrians lazily under the warm sun of the second winter after Corona.  

Please, my lord, I do not want to be a blue face mask scattered to the four winds and eventually falls into the Mediterranean waters. Please Do not let me be a door, a table, a glass of wine, or a cup of coffee contaminated by the virus so that I won’t be the reason to infect others.

Let me be, for example, a wind that collects all the trash that pedestrians throw in the street like surgical masks, waiting room receipts, purchase receipts, empty plastic bottles, cigarette butts, empty beer bottles, and cans, and newspapers that are contaminated with dizzying coronavirus updates: number of infected people, death rate, hospital beds, and oxygen concentrators which are in short supply.

Let me be a gusty wind that cleans up the city from all the dirt and restores its charming beauty, the beauty of my childhood. When we were young, my cousins and I used to walk from the seashore to the city center, in our wet swimsuits. We would go barefoot in the hot gray asphalt and the seawater is dripping from our heads and bodies. Our feet dry out quickly and the asphalt burns them out, so we would run towards the closest grocery. We scramble noisily to buy  Charlo’s ice cream. The cool taste of vanilla and chocolate reinvigorate us as we run happily into the arms of the warm city.

Living was safe, like a summer sun, or like ice cream which smothers the burning heat.

Breathing the air and enjoying the sea smell was one of the simplest things, one of the most natural things.

Today, the air is heavy and stifling. Inhaling without a mask could be a  fatal mistake. Today, The smell of fear overwhelms us like an invisible giant web. Today, we are stuck in a fishing net called Corona. Colorful masks with various shapes and designs block us from breathing the fresh air.

Young lovers walk around wearing their decorative masks with funny or spooky drawings. You could see designs like Joker’s mouth, Vampire’s teeth, or just a perfect smile, which cover their mouths. During this promenade, the shy sweethearts are clutched to the arms of their lovers. However, the rebellious sweethearts clutch firmly their companions around the waist, as they ride on the back of the motorcycle. Corona is valueless in the presence of Love. What matters the most is life promises, What matters the most are the stolen kisses, away from the family supervision and from the pandemic.

Grandmothers say while sitting in front of TV screens “ This will pass, too”. My mother says “ We endured the war of independence and the revival war. We will not be afraid of the Corona. I am not afraid of something that I cannot see. I went to work and the bombing was over my head. I did not understand that the planes were bombing our city. I kept going to reach my job in the factory because I am never late. That day will be called later “ Aid Al Jalaa”.I survived when I was young and I will survive today as well. I am still a young lady full of hope, I just have dentures and osteoporosis which is affecting my knees” said my mother with a big laugh. We all laugh around as well, we hold on to her laughter and wiping the fear away from us like someone who’s dusting hope.

If I had the opportunity to be back, I would ask God to take me back to a city called Bizerte.

Bizerte is an exquisite mermaid. Its upper body faces the sun rays while its tail plays merrily in the cool Mediterranean water.