Somewhere! (Hunaak!) (9 page)

“It is inappropriate to mention dreams and exhaustion in the same sentence! You are never exhausted when you are following your dreams. Great people are only exhausted by slackers! Your dreams, Son, are like this feast: you could never take them all down in one shot. You must enjoy achieving them piece by piece. This is a source of joy that can only be exhausted by your own death!” — he added just before eating the piece of bread.

“
I understand! I will execute! Of course, so long as if I can actually make it back to my world and my times!” — I said.

Mr. Leonardo smiled. I finally understood! I closed my notebook after I wrote down his last words and put the notebook into my
jacket’s pocket.

“
You will make it back!” — he added.

Mr. Leonardo stood up and crossed the room towards a wide window with one of his contraptions sitting in front of it. It was fully covered with clothes that he removed slowly to show a prototype of a glider that he had built on his own.

“Come Husam, you must start the race now!” — he added.

Understanding where this was headed, I picked up my hat and leaned-in with
respect. I threw my hat from the window.

“
The only person I will allow to beat me is ME! This is my promise to you Mr. Leonardo!” — I said as I got into the glider.

I jumped out of the window without hesitation. I did not care about the height
nor the rocks of the hills around me nor the valley beneath. I was being lifted by my passions, by the wind and by Leonardo’s words which followed me as he stood on the edge of the window and yelled so that I would hear him:

“
Never forget Husam… I do not draw nor invent, I only create without stop! Let the creativity flow from the depths of your mind and soul,
never
ignore it. Let it fall after that onto anything whatsoever… be it a painting, a symphony, a word or an idea… just create! Create without limit or end!” — he yelled.

I smiled as I listened to the echo of his words, simple words from a great man that changed my ideas on everything! I felt a flood of creativity about to explode! I noticed that the wagon was approaching the castle below me. Malak had also noticed me as she popped her head out of the wagon
’s windows and waved at me. I managed to land next to her, Malak ran towards me and hugged me while asking:

“
So… how was it?” — she asked.

I pulled out my notebook and waved it in front of her with pride.

“After what I have learned here, I do not think I need to learn anything else! I wish I knew how I could thank Mr. Leonardo… or how I could thank you Malak!!” — I said.

Malak blushed as I completed my sentence and she kept a silent smile. She grabbed my arm and led
me into the wagon. I filled my eyes with her view as she sat next to me, while she was hiding her exhaustion with her smile, I thought to myself that she had not had any rest since I stormed into her world. Malak heard what was bouncing in my head —as she usually did— and she then leaned her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. Does she not deserve kindness after all that she has done for me? does she no deserve my love? I let my arms that surrounded her answer that question as my fingers stroked the locks of her hair.

(7)

My soul’s cords

I
spent a bit over two decades of my life in school classrooms, this was more than seven thousand days! Everyday kicked the next… all of them kicking me out in the end with —but a few
—
stamped and sealed papers that are worthless as they were missing the most important stamp of them all: the fat embroidered seal of the letter W (for
Wasta
, in Arabic, meaning connections)!

But here, I learned everything in a few short hours. Here I learned that learning is not by bombarding information, nor by stuffing it into old ragged socks that are filled with holes. Learning is fitness and an art that allows you to reach the needed information fast, to absorb, formulate and link it with other pieces of information in a creative way to utilize and use it in the best possible manner. What I learned that was even more important! I learned that I
am
important!

Very important and self-respecting! Not my origins, class, lineage, clan or -again- my connections! If they only taught us those two lines before they stuffed our heads with fast evaporating short expiry date subjects!

The wagon took us away from Leonardo’s Castle. I will never call him ‘da Vinci
’
after today! Malak surrendered her head to my chest. As she closed her eyes, the wind raced through the window to join my fingers dancing around her hair. With it, it carried the fragrances gifted to it by the fields of  flowers all around us. My vision of everything my gaze came upon has changed after Mr. Leonardo’s words, I now saw things with much more clarity, brightness and beauty… I was now passionate about everything. My eyes would dive into the details
of the details
to enjoy every hint of beauty the magnificent creator had cast upon this universe!

Although we were moving fast, I was enjoying the painting created by the velvet flower petals. I was contemplating each flower individually. I
’d smile at their eagerness to steal a glance of Malak’s face whose beauty far exceeded that of the flowers. I saw their colors blend and decided to reach out the window. I picked one up, thus granting its wishes to come closer to Malak. I tucked the flower between Malak’s hair locks and she gently smiled.

“
Malak? Are you asleep?”
—
I whispered.

I feared that my voice would break her nap. She lazily opened her eyes. The shy tear was still hanging on
to her lashes; her smile had not yet parted with her lips and she looked at me with such emotion that pierced my soul. Her joy of being by my side; her pain from my departure; her tranquility with me; her fear for me; her exhaustion because of me. She nodded as she closed her eyes and pushed her face deeper into my chest. We had arrived… but she did not open her eyes, she was not asleep, as her smile gave her away. Malak forced me to forget the pile of complexes that I used to suffer from. I shall not let her return alone! I carried my child in my arms, like a bride in her puffy dress. I always wondered, if I would be able to carry my bride on my wedding night. Even if I could, would I not look funny with my short figure and bloated belly? That terrifying premonition made me wish that I could return to my world in this body… only if it could be
with this elegant body
!

I set my doll on the bed and raced to my court, I had a huge internal drive to implement what I had just learned. There was a flood of energy flowing from my soul. As I
looked for an outlet, it was not hard to find the drawing application on the computer. I was standing in front of a three dimensional screen that was almost as tall as I was or maybe a bit taller. I was surrounded with all of the tools I needed to virtually draw, paint or sculpt. In my mind, I had only one image that creeped its way to occupy my being: Malak’s gaze and smile as her head laid on my chest.

I started waving my hand in the empty three dimensional
space and I quickly and skillfully handled the drawing program’s tools, more accurately it was
a
“sculpting” program. I was sculpting all the details and weaved them into a three dimensional image full of life in all of its aspects: the painting was looking at me, it was breathing, I could see my reflection in her eyes, her lashes dancing with the breeze. I could not tell how much time I spent absorbed into my master piece, it was as if I was in a coma that I awakened from after I was done.

Malak
’s voice brought me back, she was standing right behind me and was looking at my painting and she shed a silent tear. I turned towards her and her tear dropped from her eyelashes. She placed her head again on my chest. This had became her sanctuary as she collapsed between her gasps and gentle moans.

“
I love you Husam! I swear to God I cannot live without you!”
—
Malak whispered.

“
Malak! Come back with me to my world!” — I told her as I held her by her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

“
Could you imagine that? I wouldn't hesitate for a moment if I could!” — she said.

“
There must be a way! There surely is a way!” — I added.

She raised her head as she wiped off her tears streaming down her face and pink nose with her arm. She tried to lighten up the mood as she pointed to the three dimensional painting that was floating behind me.

“Hmm… was your visit with Mr. Leo fruitful?
”
- She asked.

“
Ah… this was my first experiment…
”
- I added.

“
Experiment? Don’t sell yourself short! She is more beautiful than I am!” — she said.

“
I stand in front of you to say that there is nothing in the world that is more beautiful than you! Not even your own picture!” — I added.

“
You also learned poetry and flirting?!” —Malak said with visible fondness.

“
All the art, poetry and flirting of this world could not give justice to one look from your eyes!” — I said.

My onslaught of flirtatious comments took her by surprise. I decided to ease on them and change
the subject.

“
Something has baffled me since I got here… how do I know the time? What time is it?” — I asked Malak.

“
Why do you ask?” — Malak asked in response.

“
What do you mean why do I ask? I want to know how long I have been away from my family? I want to know night from day! When do I wake up? When do I sleep? When do I pray?” — I said.

“
You can sleep, wake up and pray whenever you feel like it!” — She responded.

“
OK since I’ve been here, how long has time lapsed?” — I asked.

“
Well, my estimation if we count the hours, it would be almost two or three days based on our world’s time.” — Malak responded.

“
And based on my world’s time?” — I asked.

“
Two minutes and fifty height seconds!” — she responded.

“
Wait.. what? Is that possible? All of this in just two minutes? And how did you measure it so accurately?” — I asked.

“
Can you stop with the questions already?” —she said.

“
OK, but do you know what direction is Makkah?” — I asked.

“
No… I have no idea how to find that from here!” — she said.

“
Sorry for asking… but do you even pray?” — I said it with spontaneity but she got really upset. Who wouldn’
t
—really— from such a private question?

“
Sure! All has been taught to pray and praise!”
—
she answered me decisively.

I was not offended by her verbal slap; I felt I deserved it! I made my oblation
… and prayed a few Rakas towards what I thought would be the most probable direction, as Malak sat on the edge of the bed watching me:

“
May God accept your prayer.” — she said.

“
God bless you!”
—
I responded with the accent of a summer camp boy.

“
You forgot to say sister” — she added.

Her wit always manages to buy her some
slack  but when her pranks go too far, I have to admit, so does her beauty!

“
Come on, quickly take a shower and stop slaking!” — she said.

I went to the bathroom to take off these strange clothes and took
a quick bath. When I exited the shower, she was not there, instead I found a set of new clothes that she had clearly carefully picked, a white embroidered shirt, a collar and a black velvet suit with something that looked like a neck tie. I did not face much difficulty putting them on. After what I have been through to put on the mid-ages attire, nothing else seemed difficult.

I suddenly heard knocking at the door
… could Malak have gone to change and come back this fast? I got my answer from the voice coming from the outside.

“
Open the door Husam, this is Khaled” — Khaled said.

Khaled?
How did he find me? What does he want? I was curious to ask him about everything that Malak has hidden from me, yet I distrusted what he intended to do, especially after he had tried to poison me.

I opened the door
… such look could not hide any bad intentions! He moved towards the balcony and sat on a chair as I followed him.

“
Husam… how is Maram?”

Maram
is my little sister who has not yet made it to her eighteenth birthday. How does he know her? Was he too going through the details of my life?

“
Maram is fine. That is
…
up to the last moment I saw her!” — I said.

“
She must have grown up!” — he said as he looked towards the horizon with affection.

“
How do you know everything about me? Were you also watching me?” — I asked.

Khaled
ignored my question.

“
Maram has no one –after Allah- but you!” — he said.

“…
and Mother, may God prolong her life and health!” — I interjected.

“
Listen Husam, Malak wants you to leave your family and live here! Malak does not care for any of them! The most important thing to her is for you to stay here with her! You have been away from your world for three minutes, and if you make it to seven you could never go back! And you will be stuck here forever!” — Khaled explained.

“
You are telling me that Malak wants to trap me here? She knows how to get me back to my family and has said nothing?” — I asked.

“
I know!”— Khaled replied just as I had moved   towards edge of the balcony.

“
If you want to live amongst your family… you must die here! Simply close your eyes and throw yourself from here, and you will be back with your family! Do not forget, every second counts!” — Khaled said.

With that, he turned around and left me stunned as my heart began beating violently standing on the edge of that balcony. This balcony now stood between me, my family and my life. It also stood between me and Malak and could take her away from me after my heart got so attached to hers and so had my soul. Regardless, family was more important than she was, more important than me! More important than my heart and soul!

A strange feeling made me believe Khaled. I believed in every word he had said. Was I just grasping at hope? Or the strange comfort I felt towards him? Did he try to poison me to get me back to my family? Was that truly the only way for me to awaken and leave this world? Now I had to find out!

I closed my eyes
… I froze on the edge of the  balcony long enough to remember the details of my life, I gathered my courage and longing for my family to convince myself that I was trapped in this dream, I would not lose anything by leaving it! Only death would free me for my soul to reawaken in my body. Numbness crawled through my limbs as the winds pushed my balance around as I stood on the edge with my arms extended to fly to my family.

“
Husaaaaam!” — Malak screamed.

Malak
’s scream was the barrier between death here and life there! She shouted the moment I had tilted forward and she quickly pulled me back with of all of her strength, forcing me to fall on top of her as she hugged me and cried. As I laid on the floor she stroked my face as if in disbelief that I was still with her.

“
Husam!!! Why Husam??!! Why would you do that?!” — she asked.

“
You have been deceiving me all of this time!! You want to trap me here?”
—
I sat up and said angrily.

“
Husam you understand nothing! Trust me I only want what is in your best interest!!” — she replied.

“
I only want what is in the best interest of my family! Let me go back to them before it is too late!” — I yelled.