Birds of Heaven
- Locked due to inactivity on Aug 4, '16 4:13pm
Thread Topic: Birds of Heaven
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This story is set long, long ago, back to the time of the old Arabs, let's say at the beginning of the 20th century really, in 1903, May 10th.
In this story, you'll be reading about two cities: Baghdad and Dubai, Baghdad in Iraq, and Dubai in the UAE.
I've tried my best to show you what it was like then, with descriptions of what people did and ate, to help you imagine it more.
*
In 1903, on the 10th of May, a young, poor boy had woken up, to start his every day chores and small jobs to earn the little money he could get for his food, it was early morning in Baghdad, the sky was a mix of violet and orange, Hani lived by the River Tigris, he stayed here because it was easier for him to remember where he lived, for he was only ten years old, every day, he watched the rich children splash in it with not a care in the world, or the poor people with tattered clothes that came with clay pots to gather water to drink from it, he often did the same.
Every day, he would go out of the small cottage he lived in, in to the cold air of morn and work like a dog so that his mother could makes the disgusting Pacha, which was a broth of sheep's head and stomach and feet, with some pickled vegetables. It was the only thing that they could afford.
When he woke up, he put on his ragged green jacket and combed his dirty black hair, then grabbed the old worn out kettle by the door and rushed out to the calm river and took some water from it, to return and give it to his mum so she could boil the water. Then, he went out to Mr. Saleh, who usually had a lot of things for him to do, and paid money that could actually fill his stomach, he walked on the dusty streets, staring at the people as they went to their daily lives, doing what they do best, women carrying baskets of fruit over their heads, and boys and girls carrying pots of water to their homes, men in stores polishing shoes or cleaning their counters and windows, it was a work day.
Mr. Saleh was an old Jewish teacher from Khorasan who taught Hani to read and write, but because of his old age and frail, weak body, he usually let Hani do all his work, and in return, paid him the money he got from the old books he sold, Hani loved going there, to see all the leather bound old books on the dusty shelves, exploring a world he had never known existed before, in the small cramped up room.
On that day though, when Hani reached the glass door of the shop, he saw that it was locked.
Now this was strange indeed, because usually Mr. Saleh had his door unlocked and was sitting in his old black chair, waiting for the young boy with bright honey brown eyes and a curious, sweet intelligent smile, but today, as Hani peered in to the shop door, he saw that Mr. Saleh was not there.
''Oh my... where is he?'' he asked himself.
Suddenly, a figured appeared from inside and came closer in to view, it was Mr. Saleh, he had not forgotten, Hani let out a sigh of relief, he worried easily sometimes.
But Mr. Saleh wasn't happy or giving a kind smile, there was a worried frown on the lines of his old face, and sadness in his old pale blue eyes, which was usually a very bad sign.
''Hello Hani,'' he said gruffly.
''Hello Mr. Saleh, um... can I come in?''
''Well, yes, but this will be the last time you do,''
''What do you mean?''
''Come in and I'll tell you,''
Mr. Saleh seated Hani on one of his old chairs, and went behind the shop for a moment, and came out with a cup of tea with a mint leaf floating on it's calm brown surface.
''Here you go,'' he said and gave it to Hani, the boy had just realized that he was hungry, he was used to it by now, he never ate breakfast, how could he when there was so much work to do?
''Thank you,'' he said politely, and took a sip from it, ''But what is this for? What's the matter?''
''Well Hani, you see...'' he replied quietly, he seemed close to tears, ''I... I'll be closing the shop...''
Hani suddenly felt like a block of ice had been dropped in to his stomach, he was sad, of course, but not as much as he thought he'd be, this had to happen eventually, he didn't think it would be on this day though.
''I... I'm sorry to see you go...'' he said, he was sadder than when he was with most people he worked for, but not so heavily, and yet, it seemed pretty bad, he was nervous, worried, what would he do now? Who would he work for? He was useless towards anyone, how would he and his mother and sister eat? His father was dead and they had no relatives. ''What will you do now?''
''I'm going to live with my sister in the country side, until I eventually pass away, I'm sorry Hani, you were a good boy and I enjoyed all the time I spent with you, but it's time to move on, but I'll miss you and I'll always remember you, how couldn't I? You're one in a million,''
Hani immediately felt guilty for not being so sensitive and affected, he was flattered of course, and said, ''Thank you Mr. Saleh, I'll always remember you too, you were nicer than most people I worked for,''
***
Alia was a small girl with five brothers and three sisters, she lived in a small hut in Dubai, near a well.
This well brought back bad memories, and every day, the nine children came out in to the gloomy day and saw that well, for before, they had been five boys and five girls, but one day, Alia's younger sister, Khulood, had been playing in the sand with a stick, when she got bored and peered in to the well, of course, she was only two years old at the time, so she had no idea of what was to happen, when she fell straight down and crashed to the concrete bottom and drowned in the murky water, laying cracked and bloody until her family finally found her a few hours later. Nobody ever used that well ever again, nobody could stand to drink from it, knowing that no matter how many times they changed the water, it still wouldn't change the fact that a small girl had once laid in water in there, dying and defenceless.
In Dubai, women used to carry baskets on their heads and take care of the house and children, they used to make baskets and mats to sit on and use, they used to fetch water from the wells and teach the young to read and write, they also used to do sewing and stitching and made clothes, they sometimes sold things they had made.
As for the men, for -
As for the men, for their work was harder, they used to go to the sea in their newly built boats and face the dangers of the sea to find pearls to sell and bring home to their families, and they'd fish for food or craft weapons or items they could use, some men taught their sons to read and write, and do other things, too.
One morning, Alia woke up and took a step outside in to the world around her, she saw some men heading towards their boat and putting on the last of their materials and things they'd need, she watched them as they made footsteps in the sand as they walked towards a new day of hard work, there were huge piles of stones and rocks that were to be used later on, the sea was a calm blue and it gently brushed against the shore, a slight breeze came from it, it was a nice, quiet day.
She got ready and washed her face, then ate some bread and Hummus, a little bit of yogurt and dates, and then headed out to go find her teacher, who taught her to read and write, as she came out, she saw a boy in the distance, he looked very strange, his clothes were weird and he didn't look very local, where was he from?
He looked lost and unsure of where to go, so she talked to him when they came up to eachother, he looked younger than her, but perhaps only by a year or so.
''Um... hello there,'' he said to her in Arabic.
''Hallo, um, you don't seem very local, are you foreign?''
''Well yes I am, I come from Baghdad, it took me ages to get here...''
They both started to talk, Alia found out that the boy's name was Hani, and he was Iraqi, he couldn't find any work, so he ran away from home, he only had a mother and a sister who could work for themselves, he said that his mother wouldn't let him stay at home if he didn't work, so he decided to go somewhere very far, he had gotten here by camel apparently, him and some other travellers who were heading to Dubai, and it took them about twenty-five days, he looked starving and tired, Alia felt sorry for him and she didn't want him to stay in this state, so she took him back home and gave him what was left of her and her family's breakfast.
''Thank you,'' he said with a smile as he ate, ''Now what about you? I've told you all about myself, but you haven't,''
She smiled and said, ''Well, alright then, my name is Alia and I'm the fifth between all of my brothers and sisters, although one of them died a few years ago...'' and here, she hesitated before continuing, trying to block out the image of the lifeless body at the end of the well, ''And well, I'm from Dubai, of course, here, we work a lot and my family could feed you, but you'll have to-''
''-work'' he finished for her with a smile, ''I know, it's a way of life, we all have to,''
''Right,'' she said, ''although I'm not so sure as to what you might be doing, I guess you'll go fishing with my three brothers, two are still too young, but one is in his twenties and isn't seen often, he usually does his own thing, the other two will be with you, they're both older than you, one's about sixteen, and the other is about twelve,''
''Oh,'' said Hani, ''I've never really known much about fishing,''
''Well you'd better learn quick, boy!''
***
A few weeks after Hani was welcomed to Alia's family, (her parents had found a spare place for him to sleep in,) he had to start fishing, and left Alia and her family to start a new life on the seas.
Things seemed to be really hard, but he quickly adapted – he had to, he didn't want to seem useless or weak, they were gone for three months, fishing and salvaging pearls of all different sizes, discovering the seas and feeling the salty wind every day, blowing at their faces, but one day, a tragic thing happened. There was a storm.
The wind raged like crazy and rocked the boat so hard, that two of the sailors had already fallen off and drowned in the high tides of the sea, the sky was a stormy black and the rain thundered on their heads like a thousand pellets, the boat rocked and whirled, and the sailors tried frantically and hard for all they were worth to get out of it, Hani was trying to save a fellow sailor, Mohammed, Alia's brother, who was just about to be pulled off the deck in to the tides of the sea bellow, Hani reached out a hand – the other gripping a rope as tight as it could, and screamed at Mohammed to hold on, but the boat rocked like an out of control horse and threw Mohammed off... in to the sea.
He was lost in the waters, Hani called after him, but he knew he was gone... the 16 year old was dead.
He came back to Dubai with a heavy heart and bad news, he was sad and tears were in his eyes, he had failed them, and he always would, he was nothing.
While everyone was inside, in their solemn hour, mourning the death of Mohammed, Hani was outside, staring down in to the well, when he looked closely, he could see the words, ''Sanatetherekom Daeman Ya Teeyoor Al Jana''
Which meant, ''We will always remember you, dear birds of heaven,''
And there, Hani remember Mr. Saleh, he had died recently, when Hani was in the first week of Dubai, he had mourned for a short while before getting over it, but he had always remembered those good times they had together.
Then Alia came out with tear stained cheeks and looked at Hani to see what he was doing, ''We all live and die, it's the way of life,''
Then Hani turned to her and said, ''Mr. Saleh, Khulood and Mohammed are all birds in Heaven we might someday see,''
The End
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