Sophie’s and Zoodie’s Diary [Archives:2006/983/Community]
Loay Yehia Aleryani
[email protected]
Translated by: Salwa Yehia Aleryani
Sophie's day starts with her maid wakening her up before noon. She washes her face for her and takes care of her personal hygiene. Her maid sprays on her a perfume with the scent of lemon. It refreshes her and her senses and makes her start her day happily and joyfully.
After that she goes to have her breakfast with her mom who, as soon as she sees her, hugs and kisses her showing tenderness and love. This makes Sophie feel the warmth of being a member of a family. She sits to eat a delicious luxurious breakfast that provides her with energy and vitality. As soon as she fills her small stomach, immediately she goes to complete the rest of her daily activities.
Zoodie is forced to wake up nearly before dawn. Her school is extremely far. It takes from her one-hour and a half walk to reach it. Unfortunately the way in which she is woken up makes her continuously nervous and exhausted the rest of her. She wakes up hearing her mother's yells and shouts together with a few slaps in some cases. Her mother's mood is bad all the time She cannot accept any one being late. Then Zoodie goes to bring water. This was not an easy duty although it might sound so. She must walk a long distance to reach the water and stand in a long queue. She finally carries a very heavy pail full of water all the way back. She notices that her mother has offered her father cheese and milk while Zoodie and her seven brothers and sisters had only dry bread and water to eat. After that she gets up to finish her duties.
In the afternoon Sophie goes for a walk followed by her bodyguard. He runs behind her if she felt like running and he sat down beside her if she sat but keeping a distance between them not to disturb her. She liked a lot to take a walk in the park next to her house. She also enjoyed a lot watching the small lake and the fresh green grass. She loved to roll on it or play with some pigeons. When she felt a little thirsty she would order she would order an ice cream. Finally she returns home and on the way she buys a lot of sweets, and various kinds of candies.
Zoodie all afternoon is in the field helping her parents. She does what ever they order her to do. She waters the crops, collects them or sometimes she is sent home to bring something to eat for the rest of the family in the field. She always gazed and looked attentively at the children playing on the other end of the field. A slap from her father would her back to her reality. When she was thirsty she drank warm water with a lot of particles and living things swimming inside it. She neither knows nor wants to know what on earth they were. On the way back she would carry her father's belongings. She never ever bought sweets. Actually she has never experienced how they taste in all her life.
In the evening Sophie's friends come over to play with her. They are offered fantastic, delicious types of sweets and food especially bought for them after being examined thoroughly. All her friends live in the same luxury and coquetry that Sophie is living. Her friends were all clean and very stylishly dressed. Sophie's mother is very nice and polite to all of them. She even plays with them. Sophie becomes jealous, as she wants her mom for her only. She goes angrily to her fancy, first class bedroom followed by her mom. The mother apologizes and embraces her tenderly. The mother puts on her a magnificent set of jewelry but Sophie looks at it blankly and runs to continue playing with her friends.
In the evening Zoodie must help her mother. She washes the few pale clothes in which washing them is only a matter of deceiving oneself as they are no longer suitable for wearing. Also she helps her mother in cleaning the house. Zoodie's only friend rarely comes to ask her mother if she would allow Zoodie to go and play outside with her. Zoodie's mother tells her friend to leave in a very rude way and looks at Zoodie shouting at her to quickly finish up her work. Zoodie becomes angry and walks outside, as she has no bedroom. Her mother runs after her and drags her by her hair into a small storeroom attached to the house. The mother throws her there and closes the door. That was a punishment. Zoodie, inside the storeroom, would hear a group of girls running and singing beautiful, childish songs.
Sophie has never been ill. Her regular visits every two weeks to the doctor and her regular general analysis that she makes make her avoid any disease. Also the quality of the food and drink she uses is carefully examined. As a matter of fact she was ill one time, and she was taken in an ambulance to the hospital as an emergency case. She was given the necessary medicines. She was also examined for 48 hours. Many relatives from her father and mother's side came to see her and gave her many gifts. After the 48 hours passed she returned home very healthy to fill the house again with happiness and fun.
Zoodie is always and constantly ill. Every thing surrounding her was a logical reason for illness. Actually there was nothing around her that could be considered a source of healthy life. Her diseases vary from one time to another and how serious they are. Definitely, there is diarrhea and malnutrition that are Zoodie's permanent companions in life. She even worries if more than three days pass without suffering a severe stomachache. One day she was extremely sick. All who were in the house realized that her disease would not leave them easily? The mother felt she must do something to help her daughter. The father persuaded her that it was foolish to have that feeling! There is nothing to do in a life such as theirs. The best choices was crying silently and hoping for her to recover. There are two nearby hospitals yet even if they reached them they still can't treat their daughter unless they pay money and bribes. Zoodie's family has no relationship or contact with “money”. Also Zoodie is a girl. If she had been a boy maybe it would have been worth trying. One-day Zoodie's uncle came to visit. He saw her mother sitting beside her daughter who was struggling with fever. He smiled stupidly to her. He then went to the father and expressed his sympathy. He told him that he would come with him to arrange everything with the gravedigger. The father patted on his shoulder showing gratitude and appreciation. The uncle raised his shoulder and told him that there is no need for any thanks because there was nothing new about this preparation.
This was an example of the diary of two creatures living on this same planet. Their lives vary a lot as the world gives all the happy opportunities to Sophie and gives nothing but a miserable life to Zoodie.
I forgot to tell you that Zoodie is an African young 9 years old girl who is living in an African village; While Sophie is a 7 years old female dog living in New York. Its kind is Chihuahua.
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