Download When the Fudge Trees Bloom

1
When
the
Fudge
Trees
Bloom
Description
quotMymother's land has a million fudge trees on
it,quotmy
husband told me. I giggled and pointed out his
mistake, but he brushed it aside. His English was
good, but delightfully imperfect. How could he
mix up fudge with figs?quotThefigs are sweeter
than any candy. I will show you.quotAs the plane
made its final
2
approach into Beirut, I remembered his
proclamation, spoken in accented English. He
looked so like Omar Sharif, in spite of his
broken nose, as he swept the air with one hand.
He was good at proclamations. When he gave me the
engagement ring, I'd agreed to go to Lebanon, his
homeland, with him, but confessed my misgivings.
quotIll never ask you to stay in a place where
you're not happy,quothe'd said. I'd believed
him. I hastily brushed away the memories, as well
as the unbidden tears. It had been twenty- two
years since I was last here. I was not the girl I
had been when I first arrived in this ancient
city, nor the young, scared mother I had been
when I last left, fleeing the bombs. I thought
fondly of that girl and mother. I shook my head.
Could that have been me? Could only eight years
define a life?