Somewhere! (Hunaak!)

by Abbas, Ibraheem

  “Husaaam!” —Malak shouted.

  She had just arrived in the elevator right next to me. Once again, death and I were in a race against time! I felt my physique, my intuition, my luck and what Mr. Lucas charged into my memories saved us as I pulled a hook from my suit and threw it with all my strength towards the elevator. The hook pierced the window and held onto its edge. I felt an enormous pull by the steel wire on my waist and it felt as it had broken my spine. We held onto the elevator that was speeding upwards… towards the roof top where the clown’s craft had landed and he jumped off.

  “Play with my friend a little while I kill his mother!” — he said with indifference without even looking at me.

  Four giants jumped out of his helicopter each carrying a machine gun which they each pointed to my chest.

  “Husam get to the clown I will take care of them!” — Malak yelled.

  She jumped into the air and flipped to land amongst them letting lose her arms and legs onto their chests and necks. I passed them with a jump and one of them was able to shoot me and two of the bullets struck me. It did not matter! What mattered was for me to get to my mother before that clown. I raced behind him while ignoring all the pain that by now I had gotten used to. He was standing on the roof near the building’s edge and in front of him was my mother, tied up and sobbing with tears. He then pointed one of his ugly guns towards her head and the other gun towards me.

  “Your mother is the most important thing in your life! Do not allow anyone to harm her Husam! Never! No matter the cost! I remember my mother, how I miss her and her pumpkin pie that she always used to bake for me. I never liked pumpkin! I loved fireworks and explosives. She would always stop me from playing with them with the lame excuse of her fears. Poor thing that she did not survive the explosion of that bomb I forgot under her bed. I swear! I did not mean to harm her! at least now she is free from her back pains!” — he said in a theatrical manner and wiped an imaginary tear from his eyes.

  “What is this Husam? Are you not ashamed to wear such tight and funny clothes in front of your mother?” — he said.

  He then fixed his jacket, and adjusted the ugly flower attached to it.

  “Did they delude you into thinking that the stupid spoiled kid who wore the cape before you is a real super hero? No! No my dear! He was nothing but another joker! Just like me! Our mission is to amuse people in the circus that life is! Although I had my reservations regarding his horrific taste in fashion, he would play the role of the hero while his drive was only revenge! Revenge for the murder of his parents on the hands of the lowlifes. My mother died in my arms from cancer, I could not bear the cost of her medications… How could I avenge her? Who is the real criminal? He, who is forced to steal to live? Or is it those how cause the creation of a society filled with poverty and thieves? Behind every thief is a hungry stomach, while a real criminal is basking in his riches. Your friend - the owner of that suit – was one of those criminals, hiding his crime by fighting small midnight thieves just to praise their elders at day.”

  His tone turned into a surprising serious one.

  “Come on! Take off that funny mask quickly! I know it is coated with an anti-bullet shield. I want your mother here to enjoy the sight of your skull as it shatters with my bullets. Or do you prefer dying some other way? Would you prefer to jump off a building’s ledge… three thousand meters high? No! No!… that is a long and painful fall. What if your mother shoots you? Ah! That is a great idea, especially because my motherly heart could not bear killing a kid in front of his mother!” — he yelled.

  I quickly took off my mask just as the low life handed my mother the gun to hold between her cuffed hands, without removing the other gun from her head’s temple.

  “Come on Aunty! Mother of Husam! Put an end to your son’s recklessness so that he would not lose his chance to get back home and take care of his sister Maram! The greatest mothers are those who sacrifice for their children. My amazing mother was run over by a truck as she pushed me and my bike out of the way!” — he added.

  He was fixing my mother’s index finger on the trigger as he was talking. While her wail heightened and her body’s shaking increased, he held her hand to fix her aim of the gun’s barrel towards my head, he used his other hand to hold both of her hands together. This was just what I needed: one second where he removed his gun from my mother. I quickly pushed my head to the side at the same moment that a bullet flew towards my forehead. I thought I had lost one of my eyes when the bullet graced the skin of my head, drawing a bloody line in its path.

  In one leap, I crossed the meters that still separated us. He had no time to shoot either my mother or me. I put all my strength and anger in a single punch. He tried in vain to hold onto something just as his crazy laughter echoed along with the sound of his bullets as he fell to the base of the tower.

  I helped my poor mother stand up by undoing her binds in the chair she had been tied to. I hugged her fondly and I looked at her tear filled eyes.

  “I finally found you mother! Finally! I will get you out of here and we shall return to our world!” — I said.

  She then raised her eyes towards me and while still crying, she added:

  “Husam you cannot imagine how worried me and Maram were for you! You know that for us to get back to our lives, we need to die here. If you care about me, come! Let's go back together!”

  While her hands were still cuffed, she held onto my hands. I almost jumped with her with my emotions that had overwhelmed me and blinded me.

  For a moment, she now seemed taller and I had never heard her say the name Maram in her life. She had always called her Mermer! On top of that, all I was able to notice the ghost of a victory smile on her face. There was no way that she would smile in a situation like this! It was a trap!

  He could not resist his laugh, I wish that I had died before seeing this! My mother laughing just like the clown did.

  He pulled off his mask and it really was him. Not the one who had fallen just a moment ago, but a substitute. The surprise completely paralyzed me. He pushed me off the edge and he fell along with me. My cape instinctively spread and reduced my velocity. There was no chance of survival this time, not from this height! I knew I was a goner as I watched the ground come closer but a helicopter came in behind me. It was Malak! She had dealt with the giants and had come to save me. She turned off the propellers, thus forcing the chopper to free fall and catch up with me. I tried getting closer to the door where Malak stood. She extended her arm and she pulled me into the helicopter and reignited the engines to fly again.

  That move dramatically reduced our impact velocity but the distance left was not enough for us to go escape a crash. It was barely enough for us not to get crushed inside the chopper when it hit the ground. The chopper’s tail shattered and it slid over the rocky path as it’s propellers blades chopped down the trees and carved out stones while sparks flew all over the place… until we finally stopped.

  I pulled Malak’s body out of the debris and just before the flames that started consuming the chopper reached her. I came out carrying her in my arms, our clothes and skin were shredded. Her weak breath gave me the reassurance that she was still alive, yet, the battle was about to get even more viscous.

  (10)

  Between Space and Earth!

  My days here are almost over. Actually, they are not days, what remains is but a few hours, or maybe even minutes! But every minute that passes by here holds life changing events, and this is an important lesson. While we might live a day as a day, as a lifetime or not live it at all, days that do not add new experiences are cut-out from our lives, they make us age without growing.

  I was now terrified from going back to my old life! I was scared to turn back into the old Husam. I do not at all mean my bodily looks; for good looks and muscles are just extra negligible toppings when compared with mentality and will. I am afraid to go back to the grim laziness and the killer routine! I wrote all of these words as I contem
plated this strange elegant pen, could it really be the reason behind this flow from my heart and soul? Could I keep it when I got back to my world? Would a plastic pen be enough? I promise you dear pen that I will never stop writing as long as my fingers could hold onto something to write with! I promise you to never forget about Malak nor her smiles that mocked everything while she was in my arms. You are so strange Malak! I wondered where did that smile come from all while she was in this condition.

  I carried Malak in my arms. She had barely survived the chopper’s explosion and had significant burns all over her body but she was still barely able to breathe… and smile!

  It seemed to me that she smiled only because she was in my arms. Content with death so long as death brought us together. This was the real meaning of love!

  Your love is the one life kills you away from him, yet you live if you died in his arms.

  This definition applied to me as well. I admit that I was so in love with her. I confess that now I could not imagine my life without her. It wasn’t because of her beauty but just because of who she was! I wished she could come back with me to my world, I do not care how she would look like, I just wanted to live with her… and her love!

  I promised myself that I would carry her for as long as the world spun around me. I did not care what happened, all I cared for was that Malak stayed with me until my final moments in this place.

  Mr. Lucas’ plane appeared between the rubble of the buildings and landed directly in front of us. We made our way and boarded the plane. While it began flying autonomously, Mr. Lucas’s face appeared on the screen.

  “Mr. Husam, I am glad we got to you in time!” — he said nervously.

  “Mr. Lucas? Are we on our way back to the base?” — I asked.

  “The base? I do not think anything there remains intact. It was a miracle that we made it out of there before they got to it. They must have destroyed it by now!” — Mr. Lucas added.

  “Who are they? Who are you talking about Mr. Lucas?” — I asked.

  Before he could answer me, the plane took a sudden steep turn and it threw us off of our seats. What appeared to be two flare lights passed in front of the autonomous plane. We were still able to feel their heat even though they had not touched the plane and we were inside it!

  As an alarm activated inside the plane, I tried as quickly and as gently as I could to return Malak to her seat and fastened both of our seat belts. The plane maneuvered again but this time, it jolted upwards in a vertical angle to avoid the burning of the laser beams.

  A few moments went by and then I saw flying saucers —yes, flying saucers— in intercepting trajectories. They were moving at very high speeds and outmaneuvering our autonomous plane. We simply couldn’t outrun or outmatch them! One of the flying saucers flew ahead of us and suddenly rotated around itself to face us and fired its laser beam weapon towards us. This was all happening so fast that it was hard to keep up with the emerging battle in the sky.

  A shiny triangular jet suddenly appeared in a trajectory to intercept the flying saucer and with it’s weapons systems, it sliced it in half! At the same moment, a second jet side kicked us out of the incoming flying saucer’s laser beam’s.

  The battle intensified as the second jet that had saved us, began attacking these flying saucers. The other craft also began firing it’s weapons into the flying saucers. It was a fast-paced battle with a clear winner.

  “All UFOs have been dealt with; your airplane is now programmed to follow us into the Space Science Center!” — a voice that came through the sound system in our plane stated.

  Our plane then followed them. I was so stunned that my jaw refused to close. Everything I had ever seen was in one pile, and what had just happened was in another!!

  We arrived at the Space Science Center that was situated atop a mountain. A huge steel shield that covered the landing pad rose as our plane landed. Dr, Ginzo was there waiting for us.

  “Mr. Husam, Ms. Malak, welcome to the Space Science Center.” — Dr. Ginzo said in pure traditional Arabic.

  “申し訳ありません私たちは日本語を学ぶ機会を持っていませんでした!” — Malak answered him in Japanesse.

  “Do not worry. We speak Arabic well. I hope you are ok.” — Dr. Ginzo responded while trying to break the ice. The answer was very clear: every cell in our body emphasizes the contrary. We followed Dr. Ginzo into a workspace filled with experts in space research. Each of them was absorbed into the screens in front of them. When we entered the room, they all stopped and kneeled towards us showing us respect until Dr. Ginzo allowed them to go back to work.

  The design of a flying saucer appeared on the large central screen and it carried a giant Mecha… I knew him! How couldn't I?!

  I had lived his space adventures even before I could speak! A young man and girl entered the space and shook our hands, I remember them well.

  Could I really be meeting them?? I still faced great difficulty in accepting the idea of meeting great historical figures. However, the idea of meeting cartoon characters was insanity. I was now having strong doubts that everything here was an absolute hallucination. Mind you, they are all very well plotted hallucinations!

  I glanced again at the girl and realized that it really was her. It was the exact same manga girl but from flesh and blood. She got a bit nervous as she extended her hand to shake mine. She gasped when her eyes made contact with me and Dr. Ginzo noticed.

  “Yes… He looks a lot like him! Like my son!” — Dr. Ginzo added.

  He pretended to rub his eye as he said this to hid his tears before they showed. While the girl allowed her tears to flow.

  “It is as if he was standing here!” — she added.

  Malak did not like the situation.

  “I do not think time is on our side. Can you tell us what is going on here?” — Malak interrupted the teary moment.

  “Someone was able to get to the files containing the designs of the planetary armies we had fought, and built a vicious fleet that destroyed Mr. Lucas’s base, and it is on its way here to finish off Husam!” — Dr. Ginzo responded in a worrisome tone.

  “There is no way we can hold them without the Mecha!” — The young man followed up with the same worried tone.

  On the screen beside us, a series of designs appeared while Dr. Ginzo continued explaining the situation.

  “Our only hope is for Husam to control the Mecha. He has gone through an intensive training program that qualifies him to do so!” — Dr. Ginzo said.

  I would like to assert the following: There is no comparison between cartoons of four decades ago that were limited to lines, color, limited resources and the details I was seeing here right now. The designs on the screen showed a Mecha that was being operated with such complex and advanced technologies that we never even bothered to understand in our childhood. These technologies came from other worlds that were hundreds of year ahead of us scientifically and technologically.

  The civilization of this planet had reached the peak of technological and civil development. After the killer radiation had dissipated from its surface, the Prince had returned to restore the kingdom. A peaceful planet such as theirs had no need for a protective army. They sufficed by developing the Mecha. It symbolized protection more than it being a weapon for devastation.

  While this Mecha reflected the image of a noble warrior with features of strength and dignity, this Mecha was distinguished by the technologies that it harnessed. The research facility had spent years studying this technology and built a replica before the Mecha returned with the prince to his planet.

  While we were in the research facility, we watched a few virtual movies that showed the planet, its technologies and its inhabitants.

  I was losing my mind as I couldn’t understand how a cartoon could have such amazing detailed and realistic projections. I could not contain my curiosity so I asked Dr. Ginzo.

  “Excuse me Dr., I remember you well, I have seen all of this before I w
as six years old, but…” — I began saying to Dr. Ginzo.

  “But… it was a cartoon! Is this what you wanted to say?” — Dr. Ginzo interrupted and asked.

  “Yes! I mean, the idea of the existence of such a Mecha carrying all of these weapons and alien creatures living on other planets attacking planet Earth with its monstrous robots… this is all fantasy! How would it come true?” — I asked.

  “Listen son, if a person from the past century came to your time he would be identically shocked, he will consider what he is seeing a fantasy simulation of what science fiction stories present. Also, who said that they were aliens? Did you not notice that they all looked human and that they only had a few genetic differences such as the elongation of the ears or the skulls or the change in skin color? They are all genetic mutations necessary for them to adapt to the environments of the planets where they lived after they left Earth”. — Dr. Ginzo explained.

  “Oh my God! You mean to say that…” — I began talking.

  “Yes! They are Human! They all carry our same traits, blood and DNA. That planet’s Prince was here pretending to be my son and no one ever thought that he was from another planet!” — Dr. Ginzo said.

  “His blood still flows in my veins. He saved my life!” — the girl interrupted with a sad voice.

  “They had left Earth after their greatest king died over three thousand years ago and the civilization that he had built was being robed. A group of their top scientists decided to carry all of their scientific secrets through the wormholes that they had discovered in space to get them to a planet that most resembled Earth. At this point, a new civilization expanded across multiple planets but human greed was again the downfall and all their civilizations were destroyed and they have now come back to destroy planet earth!” — Dr. Ginzo added.