The Day Mubarak Was Tried

<p>Cairo, August 3, 2011</p> <p>I lie in bed, my eyes wide-open in the darkness. The air is hot and heavy with humidity and dust. I try in the dimness to remember where I am. Sad memories emerging from the deep recesses of my mind inexplicably surface along with flashes of childish, mysterious joys.</p> <p>I fumble numbly for the lamp, but the electricity is cut off. Satellite communications were also shut down at one point, on the orders of his Excellency the Supreme President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak. This sacred military decision had been issued in secret. Fate was on his side; it helped by sending dark clouds the color of frozen lead or liquefied tar to conceal the light of the moon and the stars on that day. The tar and asphalt of the streets sometimes melt under the blazing sun, apparently creating a substance that was slipped into the imported cans of tomato paste…</p>