ainjim
11-10-2009, 01:39 AM
Was it an offer to live?
Finally he decided to leave. He straightened his aching back after a long time bending over his fishing rod. More than two hours had elapsed without catching any thing. He was bored. “I am not lucky this time.” He said to himself. When he was standing up, ready to move, a long squeak of a car’s brake and a loud crash attracted his attention. “What it could be?” He wondered. Nevertheless he hurried towards the noise. In three leaps he found himself up the cliff running between the trees towards the main street that leads to the city.
The sport car was there. It had jumped over the low pavement and went through a small bush before it hit a tree. He went directly to the left side, opened the door and had a fast look at the driver. She leaned over the wheel drive putting her forehead over her arm. She was trembling.
He picked her up slowly and carried her away to a safe place. He put her down on the soft grass beside a trunk of a big tree. He took off his furred military like coat and put it over her shoulders. Then he went to the car again. It was not harmed much. He switched off the still working engine and returned with her handbag to find her trembling and sobbing. He sat on the grass putting his arm round her shoulder to comfort her. She reacted with a weak resistance.
“Please don’t harm me” Her broken, begging words came through her sobbing. He dropped his arm and drew himself aside.
“I beg your pardon, I didn’t mean to. I am… how do you feel now?” he was perplexed, blushing slightly.
Trying in vain to control her sobs, she couldn’t reply. He couldn’t resist taking her between his arms again and kiss her head. She crawled to his chest seeking protection.
“Don’t cry,” he pleaded smoothly. His arms surrounded her affectionately. Few minutes later she was able to gain calmness.
“I’m going to die.” She said in a weak sad voice.
“It is the shock of the accident. You are safe now. Everything will be alright.”
“You don’t understand.” She said while she was moving aside. “I am going to die.” Her low tone was squeezing the words. She was about to cry.
“Well?”
“Well what? Isn’t that enough good reason?” Her dry words were mocking his low understanding. He neglected her tone
“You said you are going to die. Well, what is so special about that? Aren’t we all going to die? Every creature has a limited time you know. You, I, these trees, this lake, that mountain> The only difference that some creatures last for hours like flowers, and others last hundreds of thousands of years, but at the end all will cease to exist.” His argument was calm and careless.
“I’m not going to live long.” She said in a slow and a quiet tone. He looked at her for a long while. She was about twenty five, blond, slim. She had a small nice feature and an angel’s face. She was of the type he liked more.
“I have leukemia.” She explained. “I’ve just come from the hospital where I had made the required tests. The final report that I had received today was positive. My doctor’s opinion was that it is a hopeless case. He said within six months…”
Her words faded and she was about to cry again when he held her shoulders with both hands and looked directly into her wet eyes.
“Can your clever doctor give me a one hundred percent guarantee that he himself is going to live till next six months?” The question excited her. She thought for a minute.
“No one can give you such guarantee.” Her eyes were brightened.
“No, of course not. I don’t think that any good doctor, who put in his mind all the wonderful miracles of the human body, can give a definite time for a patient to die.” He let her shoulders and held her hands. “No one knows matters of life and death but God. And besides, aren’t we all practicing death and life every twenty-four hours? We call it sleeping and waking up. What’s the difference between death and sleeping? Both of them are taking us from this world to another. The only difference is that the final waking up will be in the doom’s day. There we are going to face the greatest surprise when we find that what we call life was just a dream.” He smiled for the last idea.
“Are you a priest?” she asked mockingly.
“No, I’m an ordinary Muslim.” His obvious answer was calm.
“Aren’t you afraid of death?” she thought she caught him in a corner.
“Of course I am. In fact I’m afraid of the judgment after death.But I am not going to end my life by committing suicide.”
“Oh, you mean the car’s accident just now? No. What happened was that I lost control.”
She looked at his face. “It is obvious that he is trying to comfort me” she thought and smiled gratefully.
“Do you know? You have the most beautiful smile in the world.”
Her smile faded when a sad thought crept over her mind.
“What’s the use? I am going to die.” She said with a grave hot sigh. He took her close to his breast she rested her head over his shoulder.
.“I wish I met my death in this accident. At least I wouldn’t suffer waiting death.” She whispered to herself.
“I have an offer for you,” he moved her a little looking at her face. “How about living again?” his queer offer came as a matter of fact.
“What do you mean, living again?”
“I mean to start a new life. You consider a certain moment, and from that moment you forget everything, which have any connection with your past. You change your name, your town, your friends, your way of life, your beliefs, even your habits, and start fresh.”
He stopped for a second then said, “It is not a difficult matter, believe me. What it needs is the will to do it. And with a little imagination you can succeed.”
“You are a dreamer.” She said, “It is an easy matter to give advices to others. At least it is not your own problem.” Her words couldn’t hide her annoyance. Although he was embarrassed, yet he didn’t object to her accusation. After a minute, she asked thoughtfully.
“Did you practice this game before?” she raised her beautiful face toward his.
“Well, not me. But I know who did. His name is James Joyce, an Irish writer.”
“He is another dreamer!” She turned her face and a heavy silent fell over both of them.
“I wish I was dead” she was about to return to her sad thoughts when he interrupted her.
“There is another offer then.” She looked at him expectantly.
“Marry me!”
The words astounded her. Hr eyes were wide open and she looked at him with an open mouth unable to say anything.
“What? Is it worse than death?” he asked mockingly.
“Well. No, of course not. Sorry. But you surprised me. We hardly know each other. I have been really shocked.” She was speaking enthusiastically. . Her eyes were shining. And a surprised smile crossed over on her face. She looked at him again. His black eyes with its long eyelashes, his moustache, and his dark slightly curled hair over his forehead gave him the image of a typical Arab prince.
“Are you serious?” she asked doubtfully. He was all the time looking at her admiring her shining beauty.
“You are still shocked by the accident. Come her.” He tried to pull her again to his side.
“No, I‘m alright. Thank you.” She drew herself quietly hiding her smile.
Like a doctor examining his patient, he turned her face towards his, looking at her rosy cheeks, her red lips which were brightened with her beautiful smile.
“No, you are not alright, you are still shocked by the accident.” he said while he was dragging her to his bosom again surrounded her by his arms. She surrendered with a short sad chuckle.
They stayed quiet still for a minute. He could feel her worm breath on his neck and her heart beatings on his chest. This gave him the feeling of obsessing a wonderful thing. His look dropped over her golden hair and slipped slowly over her flowery dress, which revealed her naked knees and a part of her thighs. He pulled the jacket down to cover them. She noticed his act and raised her smiling face to his. Her thankful eyes met his.
He told her it would be better if she wore the jacket. She did so and leaned to his chest again. She was about to live her dilemma once again, when she gave a bitter sigh. But he was there to bring her back to the new life.
“When?” he asked.
“When what?” in a weak voice she inquired absentmindedly.
“Our wedding” his answer was obvious. She shrugged her shoulders.
“What does that mean? Do you want to say that you do not know or you do not care?” He inquired unable to understand clearly her gesture.
“What am I going to lose? My future, my life?” she said in a sorrowful sarcastic tone.
“You are not going to lose either, on the contrary you are going to gain both” he replied in a calm sure voice. Her gaze dropped down while her hand went to the soft grass
“I tell you what.” His urging words dragged her to the game again.
“Matrimony needs three elements,” he hold her hand and start counting her fingers slowly “first: acceptance of man and woman. Second: witnesses. Third…” he stopped talking. She looked at him with a faint smile.
“What was the third element?
Never mind. Now, let us find the witnesses. What we have got here. Oh yes, this cedar tree, the mountain, and that lake, two of them will be enough.” While he was speaking, his mind was obsessed with one idea. He must take part in her life, whether short or long.
“Now just imagine yourself and me in the court standing in front of the judge’s desk. He is going to ask you if you accept me as your husband. You will say yes.”
“Are we going to take our witnesses with us” she interrupted teasingly.
“Yes, No, well, O.k. Imagine the judge is in front of us now” he replied quickly.
“That‘s more probable,” she said in a quiet careless tone.
He looked at her for a minute.“ It will not be easy to play imaginary games with this European practical mentality.” He warned himself.
“Now, the judge will ask you if you accept me as your husband, and you will say yes. Then I will put the ring (he snatched a long reed of herb while he was speaking and started to weave it around her finger as a ring). We were man and woman, now we are wife and husband,”
She stayed still and her calmness worried him. He felt that he failed to arouse her interest.
“Once, I had seen a film. Bob Hob and Jane Russell were in church to get married. The priest was in front of them urging him to handle the ring. Bob Hob was confused. On the whole screen was Bob Hob’s hand moving from one pocket to the other while the hand of the priest was urging him. Finally he found it, took it out of his pocket and inserted it confusedly in the small finger of the priests hand, who pull it out, gave it to him again, and made a signal to Jane Russell’s hand which was in the middle of the scene. Then we heard the priest saying “now the kiss”. After we heard a sound of a along kiss, we heard the priest saying “not me you fool. Kiss her.”
Before he finished his tale she was laughing. He congratulated himself that she started to share him his game.
Few minutes had passed silently. He was wondering how he could change her whole life. “She must abandon the method of her thinking.” He told himself. “She has to deal with the aspects of life not as solid facts like hard materials, but with the soul of these aspects. She must learn to feel them, not to touch them. She has to act not as a computer but as a poet.” He was aware that it will not be an easy task; nevertheless he decided to help her.
She moved a little, and then she drew herself back and took a serious composure. “Here she goes again,” he said to himself. But before she could say any word he took her hands into his and kissed her fingers. She blushed and gazed at him surprisingly biting her lower lip.
“Wife?” he said in an orderly manner.
“Yes, husband?” with a broad smile she replied like a soldier waiting for his orders.
“It seems that I’ve forget to tell you some of my conditions.” he said seriously. “I must have a daily allowance.” Her smile faded.
“I must have one hundred kisses a day.” He said firmly.
“Isn’t that too much?” she tried to hide her smile with a serious pose.
“Too much!? Let me count them for your own convenience” said he while he was putting his arm around her waist dragging her to his lap. She crumpled there softly. He held her hand and started counting her fingers.
“I’ll have five kisses before breakfast, and five after, five before lunch and five after, five before supper and five after, five before sleep and five after.”
“Hold on. You had counted the last five, the one before breakfast. And besides, the total account is forty, how come you make them one hundred?” she protested.
“You don’t know how to count, you’ve forgot to count those who come between intervals.” He replied coldly.
She was about to laugh when he hugged her and his kiss fell over her upper cheek without being rejected.
The shadow of a silence took them both for few minutes . Holding her closely to his bosom, he kept watching every breath, every hint, and every move she made. He started to observe perfectly well that his feelings towards her were far from being sympathy. “Is she going to keep collaborating with me, and live the substituted life I wanted her to live? She did marvelously well until now. What will happen next? Is it really possible that we are going to live together?” His whelming thoughts took him far away. She moved slightly.
“Woman!” His firm voice couldn’t hide his affections.
“Yes, man?” Her sweet musical tone was inviting.
“I think it is time to leave. The wide world is opening its arms for us.” he stood up offering his hand to help her, but she touched his hand slightly and jumped happily on her feet.
For a second he watched her retreating backward putting her hands on her forehead. Before she fell down, he hurried and held her. She fell into a coma between his arms. He picked her up and ran to the car. The machine didn’t fail him; it started from the first touch.
Driving like mad, he turned the car towards the city that lay about five miles away. Luckily the main street was almost empty. But he didn’t care much. He must reach the hospital as fast as he can. He turned a fast gaze toward her. She lay on the chair beside him unconscious.
Five days later she was in her room in the hospital surrounded by her cousin and best friend, her brother, and the nurse who was busying herself with the flowers pot. The telephone rang. Lying on her bed she picked up the receiver.
“Excuse me Miss, but there is a man who wants to see you. He says he is your husband Miss!” The receptionist girl was on the other end.
“Let him come in” she hanged on the receiver and turned her face toward her cousin smiling.
“He has come” she told her cousin “he hadn’t stolen my purse and run away as you had suggested.” Her eyes were blaming her cousin for her previous accusations.
The subject of the strange husband was the favorite during the last five days. Her cousin considered what had happened between her and this stranger a nice fairy tale story. But when she related in details how he acted, his words, and the way she explained his behavior towards her, her cousin started to doubt that it was more than a fairy tale story. Her cousin revealed to her what she thinks, and warned her of being too much obsessed by this eastern man. When she didn’t hear anything from him during the last days, she was sad, and her cousin found her opportunity to distort his image. He is here now. She prayed from the bottom of her heart that he had a good excuse for his absence.
The nurse was helping her to sit in her bed when the door was opened and he entered the room. She noticed a policeman behind him. His gaze was fixed upon her for an instant, then he turned his look to the nurse, to her cousin, to her brother, and then behind to the policeman then his look settled on her again. Nobody said any word. Then he dropped his eyes, moving his head in a sorrowful gesture.
“What a wedding day, what a honeymoon. The bride went to the hospital and the bridegroom was led to jail!” he said with a sigh.
“In jail?” she shouted with a surprising smile, “why, what happened. What did you do?”
He came and sat on the edge of the bed beside her, taking her both hands into his.
“I had committed five crimes!” He started to count them on her fingers.
“First crime: driving a car very fast. Second crime: neglecting all traffic lights and traffic signs. Third crime: neglecting the police orders to stop. Forth crime: driving a car without a license. Fifth crime: driving a car that doesn’t belong to any body I know.”
“Whose car it was?” her brother asked.
“Yours” she replied while she was laughing all the time. She introduced her brother to him.
“He is a lawyer, if he can be of any use” she said. They shook hands.
“So you are the hero who brought her to the hospital? I’ll be glad to help you settle the matter. At any rate, those are not, as you described, crimes.”
“I don’t know lawyer’s language, thank you for the offer.” he replied quickly, and then he returned to her “the trouble is that I don’t have any identity papers. All I have was in the jacket that I left with you.”
“It was a good occasion that you left your jacket with me. From what I had found in its pockets, I had the honor to know my husband’s name!” she said mockingly.
“You have the privilege on me then. I had spent half an hour arguing with the receptionist to know yours.” They laughed together.
“Wife “he said seriously taking her hands into his.
“Yes husband?” she replied smiling.
“Five days have passed, multiplied by one hundred a day, (my allowance), that counts eight hundred!”
“No, dear, you don’t know how to count. It is more than one thousand. You have forgotten to count those who come between intervals.”
He looked at her for a long time smiling. Then he turned his face looking around.
“What are we doing her?” he asked, “Let us go. Life is waiting
for us,” he said dragging her from bed.
“How many hours have we left to live” she asked with a sad smile.
“Life is relativity itself. It couldn’t be count by hours and days, but by how to live them.” he said while he was receiving her open arms around his neck.
Abdul Jabbar N. Issa
Iraqi journalist and writer
Finally he decided to leave. He straightened his aching back after a long time bending over his fishing rod. More than two hours had elapsed without catching any thing. He was bored. “I am not lucky this time.” He said to himself. When he was standing up, ready to move, a long squeak of a car’s brake and a loud crash attracted his attention. “What it could be?” He wondered. Nevertheless he hurried towards the noise. In three leaps he found himself up the cliff running between the trees towards the main street that leads to the city.
The sport car was there. It had jumped over the low pavement and went through a small bush before it hit a tree. He went directly to the left side, opened the door and had a fast look at the driver. She leaned over the wheel drive putting her forehead over her arm. She was trembling.
He picked her up slowly and carried her away to a safe place. He put her down on the soft grass beside a trunk of a big tree. He took off his furred military like coat and put it over her shoulders. Then he went to the car again. It was not harmed much. He switched off the still working engine and returned with her handbag to find her trembling and sobbing. He sat on the grass putting his arm round her shoulder to comfort her. She reacted with a weak resistance.
“Please don’t harm me” Her broken, begging words came through her sobbing. He dropped his arm and drew himself aside.
“I beg your pardon, I didn’t mean to. I am… how do you feel now?” he was perplexed, blushing slightly.
Trying in vain to control her sobs, she couldn’t reply. He couldn’t resist taking her between his arms again and kiss her head. She crawled to his chest seeking protection.
“Don’t cry,” he pleaded smoothly. His arms surrounded her affectionately. Few minutes later she was able to gain calmness.
“I’m going to die.” She said in a weak sad voice.
“It is the shock of the accident. You are safe now. Everything will be alright.”
“You don’t understand.” She said while she was moving aside. “I am going to die.” Her low tone was squeezing the words. She was about to cry.
“Well?”
“Well what? Isn’t that enough good reason?” Her dry words were mocking his low understanding. He neglected her tone
“You said you are going to die. Well, what is so special about that? Aren’t we all going to die? Every creature has a limited time you know. You, I, these trees, this lake, that mountain> The only difference that some creatures last for hours like flowers, and others last hundreds of thousands of years, but at the end all will cease to exist.” His argument was calm and careless.
“I’m not going to live long.” She said in a slow and a quiet tone. He looked at her for a long while. She was about twenty five, blond, slim. She had a small nice feature and an angel’s face. She was of the type he liked more.
“I have leukemia.” She explained. “I’ve just come from the hospital where I had made the required tests. The final report that I had received today was positive. My doctor’s opinion was that it is a hopeless case. He said within six months…”
Her words faded and she was about to cry again when he held her shoulders with both hands and looked directly into her wet eyes.
“Can your clever doctor give me a one hundred percent guarantee that he himself is going to live till next six months?” The question excited her. She thought for a minute.
“No one can give you such guarantee.” Her eyes were brightened.
“No, of course not. I don’t think that any good doctor, who put in his mind all the wonderful miracles of the human body, can give a definite time for a patient to die.” He let her shoulders and held her hands. “No one knows matters of life and death but God. And besides, aren’t we all practicing death and life every twenty-four hours? We call it sleeping and waking up. What’s the difference between death and sleeping? Both of them are taking us from this world to another. The only difference is that the final waking up will be in the doom’s day. There we are going to face the greatest surprise when we find that what we call life was just a dream.” He smiled for the last idea.
“Are you a priest?” she asked mockingly.
“No, I’m an ordinary Muslim.” His obvious answer was calm.
“Aren’t you afraid of death?” she thought she caught him in a corner.
“Of course I am. In fact I’m afraid of the judgment after death.But I am not going to end my life by committing suicide.”
“Oh, you mean the car’s accident just now? No. What happened was that I lost control.”
She looked at his face. “It is obvious that he is trying to comfort me” she thought and smiled gratefully.
“Do you know? You have the most beautiful smile in the world.”
Her smile faded when a sad thought crept over her mind.
“What’s the use? I am going to die.” She said with a grave hot sigh. He took her close to his breast she rested her head over his shoulder.
.“I wish I met my death in this accident. At least I wouldn’t suffer waiting death.” She whispered to herself.
“I have an offer for you,” he moved her a little looking at her face. “How about living again?” his queer offer came as a matter of fact.
“What do you mean, living again?”
“I mean to start a new life. You consider a certain moment, and from that moment you forget everything, which have any connection with your past. You change your name, your town, your friends, your way of life, your beliefs, even your habits, and start fresh.”
He stopped for a second then said, “It is not a difficult matter, believe me. What it needs is the will to do it. And with a little imagination you can succeed.”
“You are a dreamer.” She said, “It is an easy matter to give advices to others. At least it is not your own problem.” Her words couldn’t hide her annoyance. Although he was embarrassed, yet he didn’t object to her accusation. After a minute, she asked thoughtfully.
“Did you practice this game before?” she raised her beautiful face toward his.
“Well, not me. But I know who did. His name is James Joyce, an Irish writer.”
“He is another dreamer!” She turned her face and a heavy silent fell over both of them.
“I wish I was dead” she was about to return to her sad thoughts when he interrupted her.
“There is another offer then.” She looked at him expectantly.
“Marry me!”
The words astounded her. Hr eyes were wide open and she looked at him with an open mouth unable to say anything.
“What? Is it worse than death?” he asked mockingly.
“Well. No, of course not. Sorry. But you surprised me. We hardly know each other. I have been really shocked.” She was speaking enthusiastically. . Her eyes were shining. And a surprised smile crossed over on her face. She looked at him again. His black eyes with its long eyelashes, his moustache, and his dark slightly curled hair over his forehead gave him the image of a typical Arab prince.
“Are you serious?” she asked doubtfully. He was all the time looking at her admiring her shining beauty.
“You are still shocked by the accident. Come her.” He tried to pull her again to his side.
“No, I‘m alright. Thank you.” She drew herself quietly hiding her smile.
Like a doctor examining his patient, he turned her face towards his, looking at her rosy cheeks, her red lips which were brightened with her beautiful smile.
“No, you are not alright, you are still shocked by the accident.” he said while he was dragging her to his bosom again surrounded her by his arms. She surrendered with a short sad chuckle.
They stayed quiet still for a minute. He could feel her worm breath on his neck and her heart beatings on his chest. This gave him the feeling of obsessing a wonderful thing. His look dropped over her golden hair and slipped slowly over her flowery dress, which revealed her naked knees and a part of her thighs. He pulled the jacket down to cover them. She noticed his act and raised her smiling face to his. Her thankful eyes met his.
He told her it would be better if she wore the jacket. She did so and leaned to his chest again. She was about to live her dilemma once again, when she gave a bitter sigh. But he was there to bring her back to the new life.
“When?” he asked.
“When what?” in a weak voice she inquired absentmindedly.
“Our wedding” his answer was obvious. She shrugged her shoulders.
“What does that mean? Do you want to say that you do not know or you do not care?” He inquired unable to understand clearly her gesture.
“What am I going to lose? My future, my life?” she said in a sorrowful sarcastic tone.
“You are not going to lose either, on the contrary you are going to gain both” he replied in a calm sure voice. Her gaze dropped down while her hand went to the soft grass
“I tell you what.” His urging words dragged her to the game again.
“Matrimony needs three elements,” he hold her hand and start counting her fingers slowly “first: acceptance of man and woman. Second: witnesses. Third…” he stopped talking. She looked at him with a faint smile.
“What was the third element?
Never mind. Now, let us find the witnesses. What we have got here. Oh yes, this cedar tree, the mountain, and that lake, two of them will be enough.” While he was speaking, his mind was obsessed with one idea. He must take part in her life, whether short or long.
“Now just imagine yourself and me in the court standing in front of the judge’s desk. He is going to ask you if you accept me as your husband. You will say yes.”
“Are we going to take our witnesses with us” she interrupted teasingly.
“Yes, No, well, O.k. Imagine the judge is in front of us now” he replied quickly.
“That‘s more probable,” she said in a quiet careless tone.
He looked at her for a minute.“ It will not be easy to play imaginary games with this European practical mentality.” He warned himself.
“Now, the judge will ask you if you accept me as your husband, and you will say yes. Then I will put the ring (he snatched a long reed of herb while he was speaking and started to weave it around her finger as a ring). We were man and woman, now we are wife and husband,”
She stayed still and her calmness worried him. He felt that he failed to arouse her interest.
“Once, I had seen a film. Bob Hob and Jane Russell were in church to get married. The priest was in front of them urging him to handle the ring. Bob Hob was confused. On the whole screen was Bob Hob’s hand moving from one pocket to the other while the hand of the priest was urging him. Finally he found it, took it out of his pocket and inserted it confusedly in the small finger of the priests hand, who pull it out, gave it to him again, and made a signal to Jane Russell’s hand which was in the middle of the scene. Then we heard the priest saying “now the kiss”. After we heard a sound of a along kiss, we heard the priest saying “not me you fool. Kiss her.”
Before he finished his tale she was laughing. He congratulated himself that she started to share him his game.
Few minutes had passed silently. He was wondering how he could change her whole life. “She must abandon the method of her thinking.” He told himself. “She has to deal with the aspects of life not as solid facts like hard materials, but with the soul of these aspects. She must learn to feel them, not to touch them. She has to act not as a computer but as a poet.” He was aware that it will not be an easy task; nevertheless he decided to help her.
She moved a little, and then she drew herself back and took a serious composure. “Here she goes again,” he said to himself. But before she could say any word he took her hands into his and kissed her fingers. She blushed and gazed at him surprisingly biting her lower lip.
“Wife?” he said in an orderly manner.
“Yes, husband?” with a broad smile she replied like a soldier waiting for his orders.
“It seems that I’ve forget to tell you some of my conditions.” he said seriously. “I must have a daily allowance.” Her smile faded.
“I must have one hundred kisses a day.” He said firmly.
“Isn’t that too much?” she tried to hide her smile with a serious pose.
“Too much!? Let me count them for your own convenience” said he while he was putting his arm around her waist dragging her to his lap. She crumpled there softly. He held her hand and started counting her fingers.
“I’ll have five kisses before breakfast, and five after, five before lunch and five after, five before supper and five after, five before sleep and five after.”
“Hold on. You had counted the last five, the one before breakfast. And besides, the total account is forty, how come you make them one hundred?” she protested.
“You don’t know how to count, you’ve forgot to count those who come between intervals.” He replied coldly.
She was about to laugh when he hugged her and his kiss fell over her upper cheek without being rejected.
The shadow of a silence took them both for few minutes . Holding her closely to his bosom, he kept watching every breath, every hint, and every move she made. He started to observe perfectly well that his feelings towards her were far from being sympathy. “Is she going to keep collaborating with me, and live the substituted life I wanted her to live? She did marvelously well until now. What will happen next? Is it really possible that we are going to live together?” His whelming thoughts took him far away. She moved slightly.
“Woman!” His firm voice couldn’t hide his affections.
“Yes, man?” Her sweet musical tone was inviting.
“I think it is time to leave. The wide world is opening its arms for us.” he stood up offering his hand to help her, but she touched his hand slightly and jumped happily on her feet.
For a second he watched her retreating backward putting her hands on her forehead. Before she fell down, he hurried and held her. She fell into a coma between his arms. He picked her up and ran to the car. The machine didn’t fail him; it started from the first touch.
Driving like mad, he turned the car towards the city that lay about five miles away. Luckily the main street was almost empty. But he didn’t care much. He must reach the hospital as fast as he can. He turned a fast gaze toward her. She lay on the chair beside him unconscious.
Five days later she was in her room in the hospital surrounded by her cousin and best friend, her brother, and the nurse who was busying herself with the flowers pot. The telephone rang. Lying on her bed she picked up the receiver.
“Excuse me Miss, but there is a man who wants to see you. He says he is your husband Miss!” The receptionist girl was on the other end.
“Let him come in” she hanged on the receiver and turned her face toward her cousin smiling.
“He has come” she told her cousin “he hadn’t stolen my purse and run away as you had suggested.” Her eyes were blaming her cousin for her previous accusations.
The subject of the strange husband was the favorite during the last five days. Her cousin considered what had happened between her and this stranger a nice fairy tale story. But when she related in details how he acted, his words, and the way she explained his behavior towards her, her cousin started to doubt that it was more than a fairy tale story. Her cousin revealed to her what she thinks, and warned her of being too much obsessed by this eastern man. When she didn’t hear anything from him during the last days, she was sad, and her cousin found her opportunity to distort his image. He is here now. She prayed from the bottom of her heart that he had a good excuse for his absence.
The nurse was helping her to sit in her bed when the door was opened and he entered the room. She noticed a policeman behind him. His gaze was fixed upon her for an instant, then he turned his look to the nurse, to her cousin, to her brother, and then behind to the policeman then his look settled on her again. Nobody said any word. Then he dropped his eyes, moving his head in a sorrowful gesture.
“What a wedding day, what a honeymoon. The bride went to the hospital and the bridegroom was led to jail!” he said with a sigh.
“In jail?” she shouted with a surprising smile, “why, what happened. What did you do?”
He came and sat on the edge of the bed beside her, taking her both hands into his.
“I had committed five crimes!” He started to count them on her fingers.
“First crime: driving a car very fast. Second crime: neglecting all traffic lights and traffic signs. Third crime: neglecting the police orders to stop. Forth crime: driving a car without a license. Fifth crime: driving a car that doesn’t belong to any body I know.”
“Whose car it was?” her brother asked.
“Yours” she replied while she was laughing all the time. She introduced her brother to him.
“He is a lawyer, if he can be of any use” she said. They shook hands.
“So you are the hero who brought her to the hospital? I’ll be glad to help you settle the matter. At any rate, those are not, as you described, crimes.”
“I don’t know lawyer’s language, thank you for the offer.” he replied quickly, and then he returned to her “the trouble is that I don’t have any identity papers. All I have was in the jacket that I left with you.”
“It was a good occasion that you left your jacket with me. From what I had found in its pockets, I had the honor to know my husband’s name!” she said mockingly.
“You have the privilege on me then. I had spent half an hour arguing with the receptionist to know yours.” They laughed together.
“Wife “he said seriously taking her hands into his.
“Yes husband?” she replied smiling.
“Five days have passed, multiplied by one hundred a day, (my allowance), that counts eight hundred!”
“No, dear, you don’t know how to count. It is more than one thousand. You have forgotten to count those who come between intervals.”
He looked at her for a long time smiling. Then he turned his face looking around.
“What are we doing her?” he asked, “Let us go. Life is waiting
for us,” he said dragging her from bed.
“How many hours have we left to live” she asked with a sad smile.
“Life is relativity itself. It couldn’t be count by hours and days, but by how to live them.” he said while he was receiving her open arms around his neck.
Abdul Jabbar N. Issa
Iraqi journalist and writer