Working Extract 1 (Onion Tears)

The heart is an incredible thing. 
Whether the actual organ or its metaphorical counterpart. Summaya’s heart was bleeding, it was being squashed by two hands until it could not breathe, until it was a heaving pulp of bloody muscle, until it felt like her chest would explode and splatter the walls with the pain inside.

Until she knew, that it was possible to die of a broken heart. That as exaggerated as it sounded, the heart could suffocate and take the body away with it, that love could do this; it had the incredible power to actually end life. She lay at night literally clutching at her chest, gasping and tearing, wondering if she was having a heart attack.

How funny it was, that the metaphorical heart could be so physically linked to the real heart. How the actual heart ached, when in reality it was just pumping blood, directing it around the body and beating to its own rhythm, living its life quietly, functioning for just one important task. The brain should be feeling it! she reasoned. The brain should be feeling the pain – that’s where the memories are kept, where emotions are triggered, where nerves are stored.

Her head should have the painful suffocating ache, not her heart.

Posted in Novel, writing.

4 Comments

  1. saaleha you don’t what a compliment that is to me, coming from you!

    Thanks…I think I will put up more in the future. It is hard putting up such a personal project out there but thanks:)

  2. Yes this is.

    Lol, Shafinaaz asked me a similar question just today! Like I told her, I have no clue, but you welcome to ask the lecturers (email me and I’ll email you their adresses). You are only accepted into the course based on a protfolio that they look at.

    If you are thinking long distance however, I have heard nothing beats studying creative writing at Cape Town.

    Hope that helps?

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