The Child of Events!

by Teymur Roshdi

  It was early in the morning and all the family members were sleeping , I prepared myself very carefuly and quietly to go out and I heard the roosters singing their song here and there . That was the last morning I was spending in that city of events . I could hardly control myself to not crying because my throat was knotted . Running , I reached the 'sweet-uncle''s store , my heart was beating very fast , the store was closed, and I knew that if I come back late at home to help for the removal , my mother would find a good pretext to cursing and insulting me . Hesitating and disturbed I began running toward 'sherven' s home , the idea that I will leave him forever and maybe I would never see him again made me sad and miserable till death , I began crying during all the long distance and my tears didn't let me see properly , I didn't know how to tell him that I will leave him forever after all the things he did for me in all my childhood . I was breathless once in front of the door of 'sherven' home , I waited some moment to wipe my tears and then I knocked the door . The sun was spreading its generous light , and I had not too much time , no one came at the door , so I knocked once again and this time the maid of 'sherven' home groaning appeared and said with her sleepy and angry voice that 'sherven' and his father went to the countryside for affair and would not come back till the evening and was in a hurry to close the door and going back to sleep, but when crying I asked her with insistance to transmit my message to 'sherven' , she became a bit kinder and assured me that she won't forget . Disappointed and wandering I began running , the sunlight didn't let me see something , so I took the direction of the 'sweet-uncle' s store . I even didn't try to avoid letting my tears falling . The store was open and I entered without hesitation .

  ...Sweet-Uncle was just arrived at the store and I found him busy with his account book. Once he noticed my presence , came at me and worrying asked how I was doing and for what reason I was there early in the morning after a long time I didn't go visiting him . He guessed that something extraordinary might be happened. With his usual kindness he caressed my head and asked about my news . When my eyes encountered his caring and compassionate look under which I spent almost two years of my life , all my stocked pain of the last few months bursted suddenly and instead of any word I cried for half an hour , I cried with all my potential , as if all the particles in my body were crying . Sweet-Uncle waited patiently that I regain my ordinary state of mind , meanwhile he prepared himself the tea and with the fresh cake he bought in the morning he invited me to take some tea and cake . When I felt exhausted by my crying , I remembered that my family ignored my absence , so in a hurry and with my knotted throat I informed him with few words that I came for farewell and for saying goodbye because we were moving to another country . The impact of this new on the 'sweet-uncle' was such a shock for him that he turned back and sat on a chair for almost a quarter of an hour and covered his face with his hands without the least word . But after a while , he addressed to me and with a quiet and trembling voice said :"my child , it seems that the destiny put you always under a new trial and each time it displays the new and unknown faces and sides of the world , I always told you that you are not an ordinary person and would never have an ordinary life, and because you are an exceptional human , you will get through unexpected adventures and events , but I'm sure that you will always prevail over the obstacles and would win , I will pray for you , and don't forget wherever you would be you can always rely on our help , just keep in touch ". I was still crying and didn't know what to say in reply to all these words of the 'sweet-uncle', then he took from his pocket some valuable bills and put them in my hands , I couldn't and wouldn't accept them , but he insisted and he put them in the side pocket of my jacket and farewelled me . I left the store and was walking on the street crying and at each few steps I returned my face and was seeing 'sweet-uncle' still at the door of the store shaking his hand for me , this scene has been repeated as long as finally he disappeared from my sight .

  I began running toward the house and once there I noticed that as I had guessed and supposed , none of them had touched any stuff and they were all awaiting my arrival to manage everything . My mother apparently has spent all this time walking in the room criticizing and cursing me non-stop. My father as usual went out . It was not the best moment for any excuse or explanation , without a word I began categorizing the stuff and gathering them in an orderly way for the removal and making them ready for bringing into the vehicle my father would call eventually . But although I was doing my best that my endeavour and work looks irreproachable , my sister and brother were shouting at each one of my moves , protesting :"not this way , but that way!", without any effort or endeavour from their part , they considered themselves as the masters who are giving order to their servant .

  This task lasted till two o'clock in the afternoon and everything was ready , but not any sign from my father , I was very hungry and my mother as usual , at the meal times sent me for some errand , this time she told me to going search for my father at one of his friends home . I knew that they wanted to eat something , anyway I accepted that errand and went searching for my father at the friend s home , but he was not there , when I came back home , they had already their lunch and nothing has been left for me . I didn't say a word and went at my corner in the corridor and was thinking about buying something on the way with the money the 'sweet-uncle' gave to me . Sitting in the corridor under the stairs , I put my head on my knees and was thinking about everything till the arrival of my father . He had stopped a coach in front of the door of the house , automatically we put all the stuff in the coach and everyone sat within comfortably and obviously there was not a place for me , so I hanged myself to a rope which was used to fix the cover of the stuff . All my body was outside of the coach and with the least accident or the tear of the rope I would be thrown in the street . We spent almost one hour on the way untill we arrived at the railroad station . This was the first time that I would experience the train travel and would sit in its wagon . I was so amazed by the train and the prospect that I would travel within it that I forgot all my hurt and painful thoughts . At first my father decided to take a ship to reach our homeland because it would shorting the distance till our destination , but my mother had an horrible fear of all ships and this terrifying her till death , so for this reason the train has been chosen although we had to spend much more time to arrive at the nearest city in our homeland .

  39

  An incredible crowd were gathered at the railroad station , as if half of the population of the city intended moving somewhere else . In company of my parents and siblings we took place on the platform of the railroad and relied our stuff at a column there . My father was smoking cigarette and was moving away from us , his face seemed impassive and indifferent like always . My mother was nervous and had gathered the children around her and was groaning non-stop out of anger and nervousness. In my monotonous life , the travel was an extraordinay evolution , I was so cheerful that I was whispering some songs . It was almost sunset that the train arrived whistling and stopped in front of all the crowd . Once the doors of the train oppened , the crowd precipitated toward them , the scramble was so that we could be crashed or lost with all of our stuff , each one tried to reach the inside of the train by hustling the others , and we all were affraid of missing that train and remaining there on the platform . We have been blocked in the crowd and necessarily by its least move , we were pushed forward and finally we could reach the door and after moving up we took some place in the corridor of the wagon which was already full . We felt comforted that we could finally get in after all of our struggle among the crowd , lot of people were still trying to move up and getting in . Meanwhile my little brother expressed his thirst and tiredness and we all looked at him with surprise , my mother took the water container which was obviously empty because it has been used during the coach journey . She automatically looked at me and said with a soft tone of voice :"h
urry up , you are the most agile , jump down quickly and fill this container with water in the washroom of the station and bring it back". Not any room for arguing , I took the container and to prove my agility I made a way among the crowd and moved down the stairs and run to find the washroom of the station which was located a floor below under the platform , so it took few minutes that I could find the washroom . Suddenly I heard the whistle of the train from the platform above me , this whistle had no special meaning to me , but I noticed that people around were running in a hurry , I washed and cleaned the container carefully and filled it with water and moved up toward the platform , once there I noticed that the crowd has been lightened and at my astonishment I watched the closed doors of the train and its slow move . In my stupefaction , the container of water fell apart , terrifyied I began screaming with all my forces , exactly like my screaming when my father closed the door of the orphanage behind himself and left me there alone when I was only three . I begun running and was shouting and wanted informing them that I have been left there , missing the train and was asking to take me , but the train impassive to all my shouting and asking was following its path and each second its speed was increasing , and all my endeavours to hang myself to one of its hilts were in vain . In my hurry to run after the train I neglected the dent on my way which entraped my foot and I rolled on the ground and because of my fast run , I have been thrown near the weels of the train , the weels were whirling fastly and cruelly , ignoring my misery . On the ground , dizzy and in pain , I was watching the train going away like a bullet , to disappear finally from my sight .

  40

  After the disappearance of the train I realized what happened to me . I began shouting and screaming because my fall caused a sort of paralysis in my legs and I couldn't move , I thought that I became paralytic for life . Because of my shouting and crying , some of the responsibles of the railroad arrived and helped me to stand up and led me to the administrative lounge of the station . Having only the money 'sweet-uncle' gave to me , I told to those gentle employees of the railroad my story which impressed them in a way that they all promised to help me to find my lost family . They were discussing between themselves to find a solution . Meanwhile in my desperate situation , automatically I reminded 'sherven' and 'sweet-uncle' , how I needed them in that very moment , and how I was once again helpless and alone and also how much my moving back at them seemed impossible and inapplicable . I was thinking about what I had to face , it was nothing apart an unknown future . Finally the officers responsible of the railroad letted me know with an extreme kindness that because the next train would arrive just twenty four hours later and this long waiting might separate me definitely from my parents , they proposed to me that with a half an hour walk I could reach the quay of the seaport and there I could find a ship to the destination of the city where my parents might be and searching for them once there .

  I didn't have another option and I couldn't return back to my familiar city , so necessarily I accepted that , and with the help and the company of one of the agents of the railroad I reached the seaport . The railroad agent recommended me to the sailors and to the captain responsible of the ship which was ready to quit the seaport . I explained to them my situation and mentioned the name of the city of my destination . They agreed and letted me taking place in the ship on board , so I went on the deck and regaining my calm I began thinking about all the strange accidents happened just in a single day . It was a beautiful sunset and once again I found myself alone and left to my own , pushed forth by some unknown forces toward unknown events and future . I wanted to believe that I was in a sort of nightmare and with the least effort I could be awakened and finding myself in the safe and loving family of the 'sweet-uncle'. But everything around me were incredibly real and while relying to the parapet of the deck , I tried to be awakened , but the nightmare didn't stop and I knew that all of this was the very reality . The ship was moving harmoniously and apart the shining stars not any light could be noticed . In my desperation I remembered the words of all the nice people I left behind myself , the comforting words which assured me that I would have a bright and happy life because they considered me an exceptional child with an exceptional destiny, the one who escaped miraculously from all the fatal accidents and dreadful events .

  The End

  1/26/2010