Rima ElBoustani

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Aug, 2019

Stories (21)

21 Stories

489 karma pts

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“The Street that Never Ends. ” by Rima ElBoustani

I sit here alone, gazing out of my window. I stare upon the abyss that is the view from my window seat, feeling a deep optimism at the beginnings of my new life with this child. The baby living inside me kicks, reminding me that I am very nearly due. My belly, pregnant with this growing child, pushing my stomach to extremes and discomfort, tugs at my mind and with it, my conscience. One day soon, this child will be born; but into what world? I wonder, what will he see with his young eyes, hear with his young ears and who will breathe the ...

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“The Big Book.” by Rima ElBoustani

I live inside my little world, where knowledge is imbibed, inscribed from alchemist to man, and I read my big Book of Human Bodies with a keen and able heart. I glance at the pages, as my childhood companion turns them over, one by one. The crisp, clean paper makes noiseless progress as it evokes efficiency and imparts the knowledge printed on its white pages. I’m eager for every word I read. I especially love those pages ripe with information on the body and on medicine. We pore over the text, chatting as we do. There are ima...

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“But I Called Him John. ” by Rima ElBoustani

People forget, when they die, that they have left someone behind. Someone who cared. Someone who loved them. That was true for Jane Doe. Her mother left her. Her father left her. And then her husband left her. Those were the only people in her life. Their names were Susan, Albert and Samuel. Everything had been normal. Nothing and no one could have predicted the outcome. That they would all leave. The only thing she had, in the end, was the baby boy she was pregnant with when her husband died. Cancer took them all. But no...

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“The Heart that Made My Mother.” by Rima ElBoustani

For every day that I have lived, I have never known what it means to be poor, to beg for food or money so that we can pay the rent. My heart is young. I am like most people I know. But my grandmother was not. Her heart knows the tribulations of life. She had to watch my mother and her sister suffer when there was not enough to eat. She is not like anyone I know. Her heart is many years older and her soul more beautiful for it. When we suffer, our heart gains wisdom and our souls find the beauty in life. We take pleasure in what lit...

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“The Aliens Inside of Me Talk.” by Rima ElBoustani

This is fiction. This is fact. I’d hide from it if I could or should but that wouldn’t be wise, nor lead to a cure, at the very least my demise. I cannot believe that it was just an act – who played me and who played them, my friends? Where do I live? That’s a trick thought, I’m certain. I stay in the ward on many an occasion, in a hospital close by. They worry though they don’t say much, but I can see the fear in their eyes. I cannot but stop and swear, and I see visions everywhere. Whenever I open my mouth, it all comes out str...

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“Hard Work Has Its Perks.” by Rima ElBoustani

Work is hard. That’s what Dad always said. He wasn’t wrong. Work is hard. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t get to benefit. The benefits are what I like most. Right now, I work the aisles at your local Supermarket. Right around Christmas, there is so much Christmas cheer here, it’s catching, like some kind of addled insect you just can’t shake. I don’t know why I’m happy at Christmas. I just am. Located all over the supermarket are Christmas decorations, Christmas chocolates, Christmas food. Anythin...

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“The Murder by the Portrait.” by Rima ElBoustani

Mandy and Sam were in a four year relationship, thinking about marriage. This Christmas, Mandy wanted to give Sam something truly special. She had been looking for what seemed like forever. When she found a present that she thought was perfect, she wrote a letter to go with it. This is it: Dear Sam,A few days to Christmas, and I still don’t have your gift. I want to get you something you will never forget. One day, I was passing a Used Art Store. I had never heard of one of those before. My sensibilities intrigued...

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“The Christmas Wish Lists.” by Rima ElBoustani

Christmas is fast approaching and with it comes holiday cheer. Everyone is in a happy mood, looking forward to Mom’s cooking and the presents under the tree. Some of us still believe in Santa. Some don’t. But we are still asking for those things we want, and putting them on our Christmas wish lists. We don’t really care who gets it for us. Just so long as we get it. Every Christmas, I notice that some people think that our wish lists say something about who we are. A fellow teacher and I wanted to test this theory. For Christmas, I...

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“The Christmas Baby Infomercial” by Rima ElBoustani

“DA DA DUM!This is your Birthday and Christmas all rolled into one! If you were born on the 23rd or 24th December in any year, this is for you! We are offering a 50% discount on everything to all you Christmas babies! Come now, while the offer is still valid! Must be eighteen or over.”***After watching the infomercial, Dorothy rushed into her bed room, searching everywhere for her fake ID. As luck would have it, her fake ID said that she was born on the 24th

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“The Vintage Time Piece. ” by Rima ElBoustani

Karolina paid a full fifty złoty for that coat and, at 25 złoty per kilogram, it was a steal! But, this time, it wasn’t just the coat she got. Tucked deep into one of the pockets was a vintage time piece.Karolina tugged the time piece free off the coat pocket. It was in great condition. She rubbed the gold – it looked real. She twisted the knobs and watched as the dials moved within. The watch began to emit a strange whirring noise. Instead of...

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“The Pick Pocket Who Sang.” by Rima ElBoustani

“I pick-a-pocket, pick-a-pocket, that’s what I do! Try to get more than one pocket, one pocket’s a fluke. But ten or twenty a day, that’s the best way. It feeds my addiction; I eat like a king with all my winnings – some folks I picked were down right rich! I pick-a-pocket, pick-a-pocket, that’s all that I do!” Peter sings jovially as he saunters down a now empty street. It’s early morning, the Sun shines on happily – it doesn’t care who it’s shining for. Peter’s shoes cackle on the cobbled street stones., his knobbly knees jutti...

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“A Dinner with Conversations” by Rima ElBoustani

This Thanksgiving I invited everyone I wanted for my dream dinner party to my house. I was cooking. Included in the invitations were Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare, Friedrich Nietzsche and Isaac Newton. Each brought a unique view point to the discussion at the table whilst we ate. With a mouthful of baked turkey, Austen and Wilde entered into a heated debate on the merits of marriage in society. “For the continuation of a peoples, we must have marriage,” said Wilde, “though it is more a continuation without disgrace than it ...

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“Be. Careful. What. You. Wish. For. ” by Rima ElBoustani

Trigger Warning: Depicts crime and blood. Be. Careful. What. You. Wish. For. Be very careful. You just might get it. George wished very hard for a clown for Christmas. This was when George was four. And again, when he was five. And again, when he was six. He finally gave up and wished for something else. But when George turned twenty, he finally got his clown. He got what he wished for. ***George was playing computer games online when he thought he caught a glimpse ...

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“The Man Who Got Away. ” by Rima ElBoustani

Trigger Warning: This story depicts strong language and self induced suffering. She sits in a stupor, her hand dangling limp from her position on the sofa. She looks lifeless, the Vodka bottle lying empty on the floor, with a pack of cigarettes, already used and discarded. A snore permeates the room from her flaring nostrils and half open mouth – the only sign that she is still alive. It is not a pretty sight, especially now that she doesn’t have all the recommendations of youth to benefit from. She had once b...

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“Rags-to-Riches, Imagined. ” by Rima ElBoustani

Trigger Warning: Depicts insanity. Many days past, I became trapped in my very own mind. I transgressed from the real world, where reality was constant to everyone, into a life only I knew – it was like living in a film of my own creation, one that I alone could see. I went from not having anything much at all to being one of the richest people in the world. I went from being a rudimentary intellect and a normal person to a genius who was odd. I went from average looks to exotically hot or tragically ugly, dep...

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Author bio

Writing and reading is the food and drink by which I am rendered happily full and drunk. I have been published on Words-and-brushes for one of their ekphrastic challenges. I was also published by a charity children's anthology. Long live words.