BAGS OF ABSENCE

Dissatisfied with the contours of her existence, Sima resolved to depart from her homeland, Saudi Arabia. She embarked upon her journey carrying a suitcase heavy with dreams, steadfast in the conviction that the life she had long craved awaited her in America. Yet, as the days unfolded, the exile’s solitude revealed to her that homelands are not merely geographical spaces we abandon; they are roots that burrow deep into the soul, and success cannot always fill the hollow left by the severance from one's origins.

As the years drifted by, Sima found herself caught in the crucible of an identity crisis, besieged by a yearning that grew ever more relentless, and watching her children mature far removed from their native tongue, culture, and heritage. Little by little, she realized that the decision she had once deemed a gateway to happiness was but the prologue to a series of losses—that certain journeys lead not to discovery, but to the forfeiture of the self.

Bags of Absence is a poignant human chronicle that explores the intricacies of exile, identity, belonging, and the family, as well as the hidden toll of migration. It serves as a somber reminder that the homeland is not a possession to be packed into traveling trunks, but a heartbeat dwelling within the soul—and that there are some losses for which no success can compensate, and which no passage of time can erase.