.png)
▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬
Chapter one
As they were walking in the darkness along the bridge, he was surprised by “Hala” when she suddenly said:
“Hatem.. look!!”
He turned and saw an old man walking slowly along the edge of the bridge, dressed in scarlet brocade, and on his head a crown surmounted by a small crystal pyramid, in his right hand a scepter, the upper end of which was like a dog’s head, and the lower end like a thorn, and in his left a flame of purple light.
He stopped abruptly, turned towards them, and said in a deep, clear voice:
“[11] They defeated [11]”
He glimpsed their admiration and added, in a tinnitus voice:
“And [10] they defeated [11]”
And he added in a rustling voice:
“And [1] defeated [11]”
Hatem’s body trembled and his eyes opened when Hala whispered his name.
A minute of silence passed as they chewed the food patiently, immersed in daydreaming, until Hatem said in astonishment:
“I saw the same dream again.”
Hala noticed, so she stopped eating and looked up at him, saying in the same astonishment:
“Dreams which repeated contains a message!!”
“But I can’t understand this mysterious message.”
Hala was confused as to what to respond to, and she was exhausted from searching before about the meaning of the message of this strange dream, and everyone she told them about was unable to interpret it, so she preferred silence again, and Hatem returned to his wanderings, immersed in his thoughts once again.
After a while, Hatem got up from the oval dining table made of oak wood, took two steps towards the bathroom to wash his hands, then stopped and turned back, looking at Hala, saying:
“prepare for tomorrow’s journey; I have contacted Adam as I told you, and he is waiting to show us the place I told you about before.”
◙ ◙ ◙
After they traveled one hundred and fifty kilometers, the map led them to a winding road like a snake, the width of the road does not exceed three meters, on one side of the road there is a canal from which agricultural lands are irrigated, and on the other side are agricultural lands separated from the road by various trees.
unpaved bumpy road; Sudden incomprehensible potholes, the wheels of the car going up and down like an EKG, Hatem swore that he would have to change his car after the end of this trip.
Hala smiled as she said in a contrived tone of blame:
“If you had accepted the huge amounts of money offered to you, you would have owned a fleet of cars.”
Hatem sighed.
“Money does not prevent sadness or bring happiness, it does not prevent disease or give health, it does not prevent death or give life; Why should I care about it?
With feigned stubbornness, Hala said:
“But you have the right to benefit financially…”
He interrupted her, trying to end the conversation at this point:
“You are right”
She smiled despondently as she yelled at him with some violent pampering, trying to appear angry:
“This is you, and you will not change; Don’t you ever think about the future?!”
“On the contrary, I always think of it.”
She knew that he would not give her a comfortable answer, so she changed the course of the conversation, asking:
“Why did you choose this particular place?”
“I am walking behind my dream… I think this is the place where I saw the strange old man.”
He thought deeply then added:
“I hope there I can find the solution to that mysterious mystery.”
His wish was interrupted by the ringing of his phone.
“Adam! I think I’m close to the location you sent me.”
Adam waited for him on the “Ocean Bridge”. He warmly embraced him, as they had not met since the end of their university studies, and held his hands, trying to persuade him to postpone his journey until tomorrow and to stay with him at home today to taste the food of “Haja”, which he would inevitably become addicted to.
Hatem promised him that he would, but after they returned, while Hala wished that he would have responded to Adam’s request, not because she is not enthusiastic about solving the puzzle as much as she wants to taste Adam’s mother’s food and be inspired by some new cooking recipes.
Adam was reassured of the promise he seized from Hatem, so he rode with them and they set out on narrow crooked roads, Hala began watching the closely packed houses, this houses appeared as if it is supporting each other and consoling each other. Houses that are similar to each other in appearance, construction, and height, suggesting the unity of their inhabitants, and the unity of their concerns and aspirations.
They passed several quiet still villages, despite the presence of some simple, jumping movement with the growing glare of the sun for some farmers who drive their animals towards their lands, a doctor who starts his car engine and leaves it for some time until it prepares itself to walk on this road so that it does not suffer a psychological shock that stops it from working, some of the students who gathered on a microbus to take a long hard way to the university, and some of the men returning from the bakery, each carrying a sack of bread!
Hala’s eyes scan them, so sorrow creeps into her soul, as she remembered what she knew about the people of the countryside in the past; when they were growing their food with their own hands, cultivate it, then harvest it, eat from it, and sell what is left, what is the matter with them today rushing to buy bread from the bakery!
The smell of fish spread, and a hill of a small height appeared from afar, it was a compact group of tombs embracing each other, as if its inhabitants were all one family.
◙ ◙ ◙
Graveyards which do not rise from the ground except by about half a meter or less.
He sensed mysterious strange majesty , so he said in a trembling voice:
“I feel that this place has great people who are not famous among people.”
He greeted them with peace while passing them, and his car sank into thick dirt, so its movement slowed down, and the dust covered it from every side until its silver color turned into a dark grey.
“Is this the Atal?”
A spacious land, surrounded on each side by a four-meter-high bridge, behind it a small water drain, then several fish farms, followed by Burullus Lake.
With his car, he cut off the “Atal” land from the far west to the far east, turning right and left searching of that strange old sheikh who always visits him in his dreams.
The sun kissed his eyes gently as he walked over a part of the “Atal” land, which was drawed with player feets, and in which two planks were hammered, as if they were a goalposts.
“This is where they play ball.”
He passed the center circle, fortunately they are not playing now or they would curse him; As Adam told him.
A small building appeared near the edge of the eastern bridge, a room with an entrance hole without a door, with worn-out walls of a white color that time had washed away its whiteness and left it bare walls; Except for some simple veneers, so it looked like a lonely old man.
The place is desolate, and Hala’s distracted looks are enough to reveal her tension and anxiety.
Adam wondered:
“How long will it take?”
And when Hatim answered him by saying:
“nothing”
Adam laughed as if he had heard a joke, so Hatem defiantly confirmed his answer, saying:
“Literally nothing; I have finished”
Bewilderment possessed Hala and overwhelmed Adam, as he wondered in astonishment:
“Is that all?”
Hatem shook his head emphatically, then Adam stretched his lips and said with incomprehension and helplessness:
“so let’s go and eat the lunch that Hajja has prepared for us.”
Hatem smiled as he walked towards the room, saying:
“Not before I see what that old man has in store for me.”
Hala violently grabbed Hatem’s shoulder, so he turned towards her in amazement, she said angrily:
“Not before I understand what is going on. You told me that you have found the place you saw in your dream, and that if you reach it you will understand the message of the strange old man, and that you…”
She paused at this point, thought for a long time, and then asked:
“What do you expect to find inside?”
She softened her violent tone, asking gently, while Adam follows the situation with excitement and says with all seriousness:
“He will find nothing; We’ll just miss lunch.”
Hatem smiled, and she slowly removed her hand from his shoulder banging her head with regret, and nodded to agree entering as she walked beside him towards the room, and Adam followed them, saying with a sigh:
“Lunch is lost”
As soon as they entered the room all hope of finding any message or explanation evaporated.
The interior of the room bodes nothing of the sort; It is empty, there is nothing in it, even the sun does not enter it except for a glimmer at sunset from western entrance.
Hatem knelt disappointed over a pile of soil, so Hala sat next to him consoling, and Adam stood babbling:
“If anyone but you had asked me to enter this room, I would not have done it. Am I mad? It is a room with many scary stories hovering around it, but I am not afraid, are you looking for a corpse in it? What did that sheikh tell you? Why do you believe him? I think he is deceiving you, I think we must leave this room, you will not find anything, I know this very well, You are not the first one not to find… “
Hatem suddenly directed his gaze towards Adam, so he was confused and looked away from Hatem’s eyes, and he understood the meaning of his gaze, so he said:
“Deyaa. He came here before you and didn’t find anything.”
“deyaa!! Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I wanted you to come so I can see you.”
Hatem got up and asked:
“And what did Deyaa do here?”
“I do not know. I told you that I did not enter with him; But all I know is that he didn’t find what he was looking for.”
Hatem exchanged puzzled glances with Hala, and an examining glances at Adam, whose phone rang, and he said grimly:
“I wish we had remind of something important; Deyaa is ringing, I will not reply. Hello! Welcome, Welcome…”
Hatem indicated to him not to inform him of his presence, so Adam went out to complete his call, while Hala wondered:
“What was Deyaa looking for here?”
“I don’t know; But his coming here means that my dream was not in vain.”
“It also means that he did not come here in vain.”
Hala said thoughtfully and asked in confusion:
“Do you trust Adam?”
Adam picked up the question as he was about to enter the room and said laughing:
“I myself do not trust myself!!”
They all laughed and Adam added:
“Deyaa wants to meet you. I told him that you were searching in the room for the meaning of a strange Sheikh’s dream message. He said he would come immediately and…”
“How do you understand? Did I not tell you not to tell him I existed?”
“He told me he would help you. He wouldn’t be late. Four hours and he’d be here; I do not know how Deyaa will help you, because he does not like good for anyone. If he found an ant carrying a piece of bread, he would take it from it and put a piece of wood in its place.”
“Tell yourself”
Hatem said it with great anger, but he controlled himself, and looked at Adam with a look that meant, “It is your habit, you will not buy it!!”
Adam smiled, trying to calm Hatem down and said sympathetically:
“You must accept his presence.”
Hatem pushed his car keys towards Adam, saying with a smile filled with suppressed anger:
“We’ll wait for you here until you bring us lunch.”
Adam smiled.
“This is a happy chance, but I…”
Hatem interrupted impatiently:
“I know; Weak at driving, deal, don’t care, take your time”
Adam drove the car at a sudden high speed, leaving thick dust that filled the room, making Hatem and Hala remove it with their hands while they were coughing. Then Hatem said firmly:
“We must reach anything before he returns, and before Deyaa comes.”
She asked him surprised:
“Do you understand what goes on?”
“I do not want to understand; Just to search»
They roamed the room searching in all its corners. Hala’s hand grabbed something and called out to Hatem.
Scepter buried under the soil!!
He took it out and looked at it, then looked at Hala in astonishment, saying:
“My suspicions were confirmed. The strange old man in the dream symbolizes this old secluded room; And here is the bridge directly in front of us, similar to the bridge that old man used to walk on in my dream. And here is the scepter with the head of a dog and the tail of a thorn. I think the secret is here and the solution is here; It must be reached before Deyaa comes.”
Hatem suggested excavating the site from which they extracted the scepter.
He removed the dust, and his hands hit a solid object, so he asked Hala to give him the scepter, and he struck light blows with it on that solid object until he realized its beginning and end, and discovered that it was in the shape of a circle, and that he and Hala were standing exactly in the middle of this circle.
They heard Adam’s voice from outside talking to one of them. Hatem recognized the voice and knew that it was Deyaa’s voice. His old archrival.
Hatem stood leaning on the scepter, puzzled as to what to do. Should they leave the room as if they had found nothing? Or tell Deyaa about this circular body? Or what do they do?
Thinking took them for several seconds, and the voice approached them. Hala asked in distress:
“How did they come so fast? Didn’t Adam say that Deyaa would take four hours?”
Hatem smiled as he repeated sarcastically:
“Didn’t Adam say?! Adam!!”
Then he burst out laughing, indignant and annoyed, losing every trick.
Adam and Deyaa’s feet Come near to them.
Out of his excessive rage, Hatem raised the scepter and hit it on the ground with an angry force.
The circular body split from the middle and swallowed both of them, and closed at the moment Adam and Diaa entered.
They found the room as it was, just as Adam had left it half an hour ago; Except for one difference, which is that it is free from Hatem and Hala.
“Where are they?!”
Deyaa asked doubtfully, so Adam tensed and remained in his place, confused, so Deyaa left the room angrily, saying to one of his companions:
“They ran away”
“And what shall we do now?”
“We’ll go back to headquarters.”
“And leave them?”
Deyaa poked his left lip, smiled maliciously, and said confidently:
“They can’t get away”
Then he turned towards Adam, who was still standing in the room, shrinking to himself, and said to him threateningly:
“As for you, your reckoning is difficult.”
Adam’s body shrunk from panic, then languished when he heard the voice of Deyaa and his companions as they took off leaving.
The sun was in the middle of the “Atal” land, and Adam was running the car and leaving after he was tired of searching for Hatem and Hala until he began to doubt that he had seen them today.
but what about their car which he himself is driving right now?
so he spoke to himself in a proper tone:
“They wasted the hearty lunch.”