Izmir and you

She held out her hand, “I’m,” she said, “Nevra.” Nevra. Nevra.

I repeated Nevra once more in my mind.

I hesitated even to reach out and touch the hands extended to me, as if they were a thorny rose. “I,” I said, “I’m Özer.” Her hands were warm; they warmed my soul. She smiled, “We understand you can talk now, so tell me, why have you been staring for so long?” I couldn’t think of anything to say except to clear my throat… “Alright, alright,” she said, “I see, you must be a stutterer. I’m leaving if you don’t have anything to say to me…” She waited for a while, and when no words came out of me, she shrugged her shoulders, raised her right eyebrow, turned her head from side to side, pursed her lips, turned back, and as she walked away, she was shaking her head, and her steps quickened as she moved forward. I limited myself to watching her leave without moving. She descended the stairs and slowly disappeared from sight. It was only after I couldn’t see her anymore that I could shake off my astonishment, and finally, my body, which felt like stone, seemed to come alive.