Within the Sins

UPDATE: 1/14/24 - Per reader request, I will turn this from a short story into a novella. It will be taken down soon and re-published!

Despite years passing since Hasan moved his children from Québec to Amman, twenty-four-year-old Yazid still struggles to see passed his father's decision to leave his mother. As the firstborn, he attempts to take on more responsibility for his sisters, but one of them perpetually meets him headstrong.

If there are three words Hasan would use to describe his son, they would be reckless, disagreeable, and unpredictable. For this reason, he entrusts his eldest daughter Aseel to care for the family, investing in her more than investing in Yazid.

With his mother thousands of miles away, and his father unapproachable, the young man finds solace in injecting himself with needles of "amnesia" as he puts it, unaware that, with every memory he washes away, he grows in sin.

On one lonely night, Yazid comes in contact with slithering dancers, swaying from side to side, whispering in his ear that there is only one true way to cleanse himself of his sins.

Genre: General Fiction
Themes: Suicide, substance abuse, anxiety