The Wishing Pearl of Haythem
- Locked due to inactivity on Aug 4, '16 4:13pm
Thread Topic: The Wishing Pearl of Haythem
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Chapter Three
By the time they'd finished reading the story, it was time for the Noon prayer.
Faisel closed the book and got up from the bed, he put the book in the box of stuff as if it hadn't been touched.
"Maybe we'll let Fehed read it," he said.
"Or, we could just keep it to ourselves, besides; he doesn't seem to really care,"
"Well, only if he cheers up then,"
And they left it at that.
They went on their business to wash up and go to the mosque to pray, their mother told Faisel that Fehed was really upset at the moment, and that he should go alone and let Fehed pray with them because he's having a rough time. So Faisel walked out in to the burning sun and unbearable heat, the day was hottest at noon, he walked on the sun all the way to the mosque, he quickened his pace because it was so hot, along the way, he was thinking to himself, "I wish I was with dad, I wish I could go fishing with him,"
"I could go on all sorts of adventures," he told himself as he walked, "I could dive for pearls and treasure and find lost items and go fishing and explore the world and look at the sea, and I could go diving and swim with the whales,"
But he knew how tiresome it would be. It wasn't an easy Job and he could even get killed, what if the rope he was tied to as he dived down for the pearls cut off and he drowned? Or if he stayed underwater for too long and stopped breathing? Or a shark attacked him while he was deep under? So many things could go wrong, and he realized, how much his dad was in danger…
He suddenly felt miserable again. His heart ached and he felt heavy and unable to move, just going along aimlessly…
Then, he reached the mosque, and opened the creaky door as he slipped off his shoes.
To his gloom, he prayed at the back, there were two men praying by themselves near by him but he wasn't too bothered. He prayed in the corner where he couldn't be seen, away from the world… unnoticed.
When he was done, the walk back was the same. Sad, thinking about what his father would be doing now, if he was thinking of him. Was he watching the calm blue ocean or steering the ship? Was he saddened even if the islands all around him and the trees surrounding it, and the salty sea air and gust of wind didn't make him any happier? Was he missing his children?
…Or was he already dead?
*
Faisel knew what awaited him when he got back. His mother told him that they would all go shopping down by the stalls to get some spices and ingredients for lunch. She decided to make something big and put more effort to cheer the kids up. And she hoped it would work.
When he got back home. His grandfather was sitting reading a few pages of the Quran, but when he looked up at Faisel's sad face, he beckoned him to sit down with him and talk about his feelings. That was the nice thing about grandpa, he always knew when he was needed withought you even having to say a word.
"So, my boy, were you a bit nervous going out by yourself?"
"Um, no… Not really…"
"Is something on your mind?"
"What do you think, grandpa?" he said irritably, "I miss my dad so horribly. And it's only the first day!"
"I used to miss your great grandfather as well you know. You're not the only one that suffers from heart ache when loved ones are out there in the world somewhere, probably in danger and risking their lives. Going on adventures and finding the weirdest things. And you can't sleep at night because you're wondering if they're even still alive or kicking or on their death bed calling for you. Because you get no word from them, nothing,"
"That's exactly how I feel right now,"
"Of course you do, my boy, you're going through the same thing,"
"So how do you put up with it? You're just sad and missing them until they get back?" he said questioningly, "If they get back, that is"
Grandpa sighed and said, "Do you know the story of The Wishing Pearl of Haythem?"
Faisel immediately remembered the book, and didn't want to face a long time of chattering from his grandpa, so he said, "Yes, you have the book there and me and Mona read it,"
"I expected you to," he said with a toothless grin.
"That was sad too, especially how the grandson's father died, that's so sad…"
"And you fear that you may be in his place some day, yes?"
"Uh huh, I don't know what I'd do if dad died and I never got the chance to tell him how much I missed him or how much I loved him…" his voice drifted off and he started to think in his mind, but stopped as soon as granddad spoke again.
"Well, after that legend was told, people didn't know what to believe, nobody knew exactly where it came from. But they say that one of the king's guards knew everything and told the story to a writer friend of his that wrote the story down but forgot to put his name on it. Other people say that it's merely a myth children made up to entertain eachother. Some say it's true, and believe every word of it. But you know what they did?"
"What did they do?"
"They began to sort of… follow in the old man's footsteps. By two things," he said, "One, was that they thought more about their sacrifices, and thought of others before themselves and how the affect the world around them."
"And two?"
"Two is that whenever they needed a surge of hope or a sign of reassurance or comfort, they went to the see, and threw a Stone or a pebble in to the sea water, and prayed for good luck, or at least, for loved ones to prevail and come back home to them safe and sound, it just made one feel much better, and in a way it relaxed people. They'd done it like the old man had done; he made the stone in to a pearl and threw it in the water. Legend has it that the pearl washes up on the shores of anywhere in the world, and it's significant and known because it has the letter, "H" etched in gold on it. And the holder can wish for whatever they want," -
"Wow," Faisel breathed, "But why the letter "H"?"
"Because "H" is the first letter of the man who made it, Haythem, you idiot,"
"Oh," he said, slightly offended, "I get it now. So how does the pearl wash up on the shores exactly?"
"It only comes to certain people, those who are lucky enough. If they're feeling deep sadness or regret or unsure of what to do, the pearl will wash up on the shores… Well, maybe it would, and then they make a wish and throw it back in for the pearl to go off to another place, but it's seldom seen so people don't really believe. If you're facing sadness or depression but you don't believe in the pearl, then it won't come to you. Some believer's say that, that's why the pearl is never seen because so many just think it's a silly story,"
"What do you think of it, grandpa?"
"I'm not so sure, you just go with your heart, my boy,"
"Why don't I try now? I'll throw a rock in to the sea, I don't care if I see the pearl, but to seek comfort would be great…"
"The pearl doesn't wash up on the shore if you throw a rock In it after you've made a wish. Remember that people did that for comfort. But the real pearl will wash up if you truly believe and you truly seek its strength."
"Should I go alone?"
"The pearl would show up when a crowd of thousands were on the beach, it doesn't matter if you take someone,"
"Alright, maybe I'll take Mona with me, maybe Fehed if he's stopped sulking… I… I… I don't blame him…"
"Stay strong, my boy," said grandpa, "remember that those were your father's words. You're the eldest and when everyone is breaking down in to tears then you've got to be the strongest and help everyone get through,"
"Thank you grandpa,"
"Your welcome, just keep hoping,"
Faisel went to Mona first and told her all that grandpa had said.
"Why don't we go right now?"
"That's why I'm here,"
"Oh, right," said Mona dumbly, "Should we bring Fehed? He seems kind of… down,"
"We're all down. We're all upset and we're all unhappy,"
"Let's fill him in first,"
"Well… Only if he wants to listen, but I'll go talk to mum first, he'd like to hear the story from you,"
"You're not going to tell her about the pearl, are you?"
"No, I was just going to tell her that we'll be going to the beach,"
*
Mona sat on Fehed's bed, he lay as still as a stone, on his stomach, his face buried in his pillow.
"Listen, Fehed…"
She didn't know how to begin; this was going to be a very difficult task indeed.
"Look, Fehed, I know you miss daddy… we all do, I'm sad and so is Faisel and all three of us are upset and we can't do anything about it… and well… we're here for you, there's mummy to help you, and grandma and grandpa still love you and will tell you stories and hug you and tell you it's okay…" she took a deep breath, holding back a few tears, "And there's me and Faisel, we're your big brother and sister and we'll make you happy on your birthday and we'll get through these six months together. We're still a family, nothing's changed and we all love you,"
Fehed didn't stir. Mona almost gave up hope. So she went to Faisel and asked him what next, interrupting his talk with their mum.
"Uh, Faisel, he's hasn't moved or saying anything…"
"Look… Just… Keep on talking to him," and he went on babbling to mum and her still thinking that they should go to the beach later.
She returned to Fehed, and decided to tell him about the old man who was a magician and named Haythem. She stroked Fehed's curly light brown hair as she went on through the story, whispering softly and staring at him, in a way, urging him to left his head and smile, or ask what was next, or decided to come with them and make a wish on the beach… Anything… Anything…
Then, when she reached the part where the old man threw the stone in to the sea and it blew up underwater, temporarily turning the sea golden and then the light fading, Fehed raised his head. Slowly at first, and then he looked at her through interested eyes and asked her to keep up with the story.
Mona kept on, happy that Fehed was cheering up.
But got upset when Faisel came in saying that their mother wouldn't let them go to the beach until after shopping dinner, which was hours away from now.
Faisel sat on the edge of the bed, but Mona kept on with the story until shortly after, she finished it.
"Wow!" Fehed exclaimed, "How did you know about this?"
"We read the story," said Mona, "We were going to call you over but you were too upset,"
And then she looked at Faisel, who told Fehed what they wanted to do at the beach, with Fehed only being ten, he believed in magic and said that he wanted the pearl to come to him.
Faisel and Mona laughed heartedly, they didn't really know what to believe, but Fehed was pretty enthusiastic about the Subject. -
Then, their mother appeared by the doorway, and stared at them like they were a bunch of idiots, and said, "Alright, children, we'll go shopping now, Ok?"
So Fehed and Faisel put on their white robes and then sat with grandpa.
Mona had started to wear the Abbaya and slipped it on her head, and tied her hair back, grabbed her head scarf and then dashed for the box and put it under her bed, for some reason, it made her feel uncomfortable for it being out in the open like that.
They left the house and told grandpa to stop giving money to strangers coming to the door, and said that he should tell grandma and she'll take care of them. (Although she yells at them and calls them monkeys instead of giving them cash when they're perfectly fit to work)
There were a bunch of stalls near by, close to the sea where they'd go to buy all the things they needed, some people even sold all the food they harvested from their small farms, or sold meat from their goats and cows.
On some of the stalls, they saw Mamoul and biscuits with dates inside, and other sweets like Basboosa and Basma Pine nuts, Barazek and Borma Pistachios, they even saw Pumpkin jam and Nammoura, and even Taj Al Melek sweets.
Most of the sweets captured their gazes, but they saw vegetable stands selling lettuce, tomatoes and garlic and fava beans.
They even saw lots of old ladies making all sorts of breads, It wafted through the air and made everyone realize how hungry they were. There was Raqaq bread and yeast bread, there was even Jabab bread and some were selling small pots of Harees. Some women sold Khabeesah, but the children didn't really want to try it.
They bought everything they needed to make the Majboos, she asked them if they wanted chicken or shrimp, and they chose shrimp, then they bought Basmati rice that especially came from India, they bought some dried lime and bought some onion, peppers and saffron.
And then they bought some sweets, they got some Mamoul, they'd never tasted Khabeesah before, so they bought some to give it a try, although it didn't look very tasty.
At home, grandpa and grandma were all alone.
Grandma was making some tea, she was busy boiling the water, she then put the tea leaves in and waited, grandpa came over to her and startled her, which caused her to cuss and get angry.
"What are you doing?" he asked nosily.
"Making tea, what does it look like you old fart?"
"My farts died down a long time ago,"
"Oh, get out you filthy runt!" and she pushed grandpa out the door with him smiling.
She looked at tea, and took out a spoon to taste it.
"Needs something else," she said to herself, "Something Needs to be added… but what?"
Grandpa came back and said, "Alright, what did you do to my socks?"
"You don't have socks!"
"Yes I do! What happened to those ones you got me a few days after Eid?"
"That was 20 years ago!"
"Was it? Could you tell Bedder to get me some new ones the next time she goes out?"
"It's summer!"
"Is it? I didn't notice," and he left her there, baffled and furious.
She looked back at the tea, something missing.
"Sage!" she cried, and went to a bowl full of it's leaves.
She dumped some in, and let it boil in the tea, then sipped it a bit.
"Makes you feel like you're sitting on the bank of the Nile at sunset, right?" said grandpa.
"Just go away!"
"Fine," he mumbled, and then, when he reached the doorway, he said, "Grouch," But grandma heard and was about to slap him, when she stopped boiling the tea, and poured it in to two small glasses and changed her mind.
*
They returned home with their mother with all the ingredients, and she ushered them to go play while she cooked the lunch.
"Could we go to the beach while we wait?" Fehed asked eagerly.
"I suppose,"
And they dashed out the door towards the shores of the beach. -
Wow, that was really great.
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Wow, you were quick.
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There, I've posted three chapters and I'm not posting anymore, lol.
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...*bows*
you are like a story writing godess. lol, they were really good ilm. -
She is a storywriting goddess.
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tr00.
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So true.
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OMG wow, Vampi, you really thought they were that good? I never felt this way before...
All I can say is, thank you so much! I appreciate your support so much, you guys are awesome, and all of you are really good, too. -
Hell yah they were that good, your welcome
and thankies :P -
You make me really happy. =) You're a great friend.
I encourage you to keep writing, and I'm always here to read all of your stories and poetry anytime. I'm always so supportive because I don't get it from my family, so I know what it's like when nobody pays attention.
I came here to post the prologue for book 2 of Roeth. -
Oh,awesome! You really are a storywriting goddess,Roady.
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Thanks Angel, you're a terrific writer too, your stories are very spensful and your descriptions are beautiful. =)
I posted the prologue for book 2 of Roeth.
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