The Land of Zikola

3. They say love is blind.

At that moment, Khaled believed the reason for his first rejection was that he hadn't secured the right job. However, he soon realized that the reason might have been entirely different when he finally found work and went to propose to Mona again. He was met with rejection a second time and the same question from her father: "What have you done with your life? What makes you different from others?" This question, which he couldn't answer satisfactorily, came up even on his eighth attempt to ask for her hand. In every instance, her father never seemed to care about Khaled's love for his daughter, nor the love his daughter had for him. Frustrated beyond measure, Khaled finally shouted:

"I haven't done anything in my life... What do you expect me to have done?! You fought in '73... Do you think that makes you better than us?! Do you want a hero for your daughter? Tell me, how do I become a hero? Should I go fight in Iraq so you'll be happy?!"

Then he glared at him, his anger evident in his eyes:

"I will marry Mona. I will marry her... Whether you like it or not."

The whole town knew about the peculiar ways of this man. He wanted to marry his only daughter to a unique man, but what did "unique" mean? No one knew. Everyone knew that his daughter's fate was nothing but singlehood, as long as her father was alive. Still, Khaled didn't give up. His mind was consumed by one thought: what made him unique, and what made him worthy of Mona in her father's eyes? He had no answer, except to pray to God to take her father away.

---

Though Khaled always smiled with a light-heartedness and a joyful spirit, his love for Mona and the constant rejections from her father made sadness a permanent veil on his face. Even his grandfather, nearing eighty years old and living with him since the death of Khaled's parents, noticed the deep sorrow after the most recent rejection and came over to him. He asked:

"Are you still upset? You should have gotten used to it by now."