"Just pick up the pieces and go. I'll sweep the rest." Mara's mother impatiently gestured for her to go. She waited nervously for her daughter to gather the big pieces of the glass that had shattered when it slipped through her hands. Both women knew this was an important day in their lives. Undercurrents that had been building for a long time had finally come to a climax. When Mara left this afternoon, it was quite possible they would never see each other again.

All her life Mara had been shunned, ridiculed and often received her father's abuse. He didn't believe she was his daughter, blaming her for her deformity. How could any good girl with such hideous looks belong to a devout Syrian man? He beat her every time she raised her eyes to look at him. Her uncertainty as a toddler turned to fear as a young girl which eventually become hatred as she grew to womanhood. His abhorrence for her eyes set the example for her brothers and their friends. It was an impossible dream to think she would ever marry. Syrian men always chose women with dark eyes. Only last night her Father had informed her she was being sent to be a servant in a great man's house. There would be no more comfort from her mother.

"I will go now, mother. Please go with me. Perhaps there is work enough for two." Mara pled with her mother. She could only imagine the fate her mother would receive when they found Mara was missing.

"No, daughter, he would come after me. He will miss your work, but will not follow you. Go in peace!" After embracing for a long time, Mara turned and quietly left.

As she walked, she imagined living where her eyes would not be despised. To a place where her looks would be commonplace and accepted. She longed for such a place of peace.

Mara quickly drew her veil over her face, her eyes cast down, avoiding attention. She walked to the cafe aware she was walking into her new future. She was meeting her friend Fatima who was taking her to an interview that she hoped would take her away from Damascus.

Fatima greeted Mara with a hug, and quick question. "Does anyone know you are meeting me? Were you followed?"
"No, I told no one, not even my mother, that you are helping me and I covered myself with my veil. Mother knows that I am going for a job with the Europeans, but if they won't hire me, I am not going back."

The Norwegian diplomat's wife was kind and asked Mara, "Will you be able to travel with me and live in Norway? I would like to train you as my personal maid. Is this type of work acceptable to you?"

Mara calmly looked at the lady and asked, "I would like that, but will my looks be a problem in this job?"

"What do you mean? What is wrong with your looks?" the lady asked.

Mara began to smile and quietly accepted the job.

The diplomat's wife needed a little more information and asked Mara, "I understand it is customary to obtain your father's permission. I will need to speak to your father."

Mara looked at her with her sky blue eyes and said, "I am willing and able to go, but meeting him would be impossible. My father is dead."