Chocolates

Mina scanned the assorted chocolate bars lining the shelves before her.  “Here it is”, she exclaimed and grabbed a couple of Picnic bars.  She turned to check what Lidia had decided to buy.  Lidia had already chosen a packet of mini Mars bars. 

The two girls headed towards the front registers to pay for their goods.  Just then, Lidia noticed a young boy standing nearby.  He had delicate dark features.  His eyelashes were long and lush.  He appeared to be comparing the sizes of two chocolate bars, and muttering to himself.  The little boy displayed a facial impression of being deep in thought.  He continually lifted his head to the ceiling, closed his eyes, then opened them and repeated his measurements.  The little boy had long silky black hair tied in a bun atop his head, and wrapped with a grey square cloth and an elastic band.  At first glance, Mina thought him to be a girl.  Then she noticed that he wore the local school’s boys uniform. 

She whispered to her friend: “look there, Lidia, at the boy with long hair.  Hilarious!”.  She giggled and leaned on Lidia’s shoulder. Lidia shrugged. 

The girls arrived at the cash register.  They payed for the chocolate bars, and headed towards the exit doors.  Mina caught her pretty reflection in the glass.  She used this awaited opportunity to adjust her veil.  Skilfully, she gathered the loose hairs around her face and tucked them under her veil.  The light silk veil embraced her round face, and fell gracefully over her shoulders and chest.  The doors slid open.  Outside, the wind welcomed the two girls with a blast.  Mina’s veil gathered up her chest, around her neck and head; then fluttered in the air.  A thick braid of rich black hair was revealed under the silk.  She quickly held down the back of the veil with her left arm.  Her long skirt blew up into a bell shape.  She forced it down with the other arm. 

Lidia was busy unwrapping and stuffing a mini Mars bar in her mouth.  She brushed her loose hair away from her face.  Her pink jersey shirt and jeans stood firm against the howling wind.

Ahead on the footpath, an old woman was walking slowly towards the girls.  She was small and hunchbacked.  She carried a large quilted handbag filled with oddly shaped things.  The bag made a clanking noise with every slow step she took. Clank – pause – clank – pause….  The clanking music attracted the attention of the two girls.  They slowed their pace as they walked towards her.  The woman was struggling to keep her feet on the path as the wind pushed her from side to side.  She focused her gaze on Mina.   Clank – pause – clank – pause. 

The old woman was about to pass the girls when she suddenly stopped.  She gave Mina a contemptuous look and hissed: “take it off you silly girl”.   The old woman continued her journey towards the doors behind the girls.

Mina was thunder struck.  A few moments went by before she spoke: “Did you hear what that old hag said? What did she mean by ‘take it off’?” She tried to imitate the old woman’s heavy British accent. 

“Don’t think about it too much,” replied Lidia unwrapping another Mars bar.

Mina shook her head in disbelief: “She was talking about my hijab”, letting go of her skirt and pointing to her chest, “she was telling me to take it off.  How dare she!  Who does she think she is?! I should have answered her back”, her voice grew louder and faster. 

Lidia swallowed the brown sticky goo in her mouth.  She took a deep breath and reasoned: “She probably thinks your parents forced you to put it on or something.”

“No one can force me to do anything!” stormed Mina, letting go of her veil and waiving both hands in the air.  “This hijab is my identity.  She should respect it. No one should be allowed to say stuff like that.”  She screwed her face up in bitterness.

“Well, you were laughing at that boy in the store; the Sikh boy…”

Mina cut in, “you mean the one with the bun … what has that got to do with anything?”

Lidia continued in a weak voice, “You found it funny that he looked different..”

“so?” Mina snapped, “I didn’t tell him in his face to cut his hair or take that hanky off his head.”

“What’s the difference?” retorted Lidia, “you might as well have.  At least that way you would be an honest hypocrite.  Listen Mina, so what if the poor old woman said this to you.  Ignore it.  Smile at her and walk on.  What’s the point of getting so worked up and defensive?  She’s probably going to die soon anyway.”

The wind blew hard. Mina’s veil, skirt and temper swirled up.  “I thought you’re my friend, you witch.  You have no idea.  You just don’t care.  You probably believe that crap they say about Muslims on TV.  I thought you would support me.  You’re just like that old creepy woman.  Go to hell, you and all the bloody Australians.”  Her agitation was growing by leaps.  Her cheeks were on fire and her eyes gave Lidia a fierce angry look. 

Lidia didn’t answer.  Mina looked away. 

The wind took a dive and the front of Mina’s veil fluttered and drooped over her forehead like the lower part of an open beak.

Mina recalled the old woman’s face as she uttered those unforgivable words.  She imagined rolling her right hand into a fist, and punching the old woman between the eyes.  The old woman would fall to the ground.  Mina decided that she would also kick the old woman’s handbag in the air causing all the odd shaped contents to burst out and scatter on the ground in slow motion.  The old woman, surprised and confused would be taken aback by Mina’s response.  She would finally crawl to Mina and apologise.  Mina pictured the old lady’s face looking up to her; tears of regret streaming down her tattered cheeks. 

Mina blinked a few times then continued exploring the ending of her imagined scenario.  She decided that the old hag had received the fitting punishment and repented. Mina pictured herself glowing and beautiful, bending towards the old woman and helping her to her feet. 

The wind resumed action.  Lidia’s thin brown strands of hair came to life again and danced around her head.  She turned to Mina, her face caged by the hair strands: “Mina, are you Australian?”

“What?” cried Mina annoyed.

“You just condemned all Australians to hell.  I was wondering if you are an Australian – so we might all be in hell together anyway and continue being friends.”  She smiled.

“Oh, shut up”, laughed Mina

The girls walked on, chattering and the blue veil fluttering in the wind.  Every so often, its soft material touched Lidia’s floating hair.

Saba Hakim

Shortsighted

It was 8.15 AM. By the time she arrived at her lecture theatre, the cold morning wind had frozen every finger and turned her nose into an ice berg. She was early. The lecture theatre was almost empty except for three other early comers. She avoided eye contact and quickly found her way to her usual chair in the fourth row. 

She took out her notepad and pen, pulled her sleeves over her cold hands and anxiously waited for the minutes to pass. 

Other students arrived, mainly in groups of twos and threes. She inspected every new comer’s face. She was obviously waiting for someone.

As the theatre filled with students, the feeling of disappointment grew on her face. 

Eventually the lecturer arrived, head down, hair roughly bunched up and spiked on his head, and his arms pushing wearily a trolley containing an overhead projector and a bundle of scribbled-on overhead sheets. He was murmuring something to the projector.

8.30 AM. Class began.

“He’s not coming” she whispered. No one heard her, because there was no one sitting in close proximity. No one ever did. 

Her face took on a gloomy expression. She adjusted her glasses and opened her note pad. She fiddled with her pen. “He must come”, she thought. “I can’t do this without him. Why is he not here?” Her eyes gathered a couple of tears that rested on her lashes for a minute before recalling herself to her surroundings. She quickly wiped the drops with the ends of her sleeves. 

She tried to focus, but she could not understand what the lecturer was saying. 

The cause of her anguish is the absence of her inspiration, mentor and spiritual mate. He failed to come this morning to hold her hand and guide her. Today was the last lecture. He had attended with her every lecture for the whole year, except this one. 

He always had on him his worn-out blue jumper. It was his trademark and part of his identity. He wore black framed spectacles and had his hair carefully combed to the side. He kind of looked like Clark Kent, or at least that was what she thought. 

The truth is he really was her superman in disguise; her savior. At first, his presence gave her security. He was always there, a familiar face, who looked as lonely as her yet seemed unaware or even careless of that fact. He was always absorbed in the lecturer’s presentation, answering difficult equations, asking meaningful questions. He was doubtless a confident and clever young man.

This man became her mentor and hero. It was for him that she dared to answer questions, although the first time she tried to do so, her voice disappeared, her face flushed bright red and her heart leaped out of her mouth. She eventually managed to mutter the answer. From that moment she promised herself that she would never let him down. So she continued to raise her hand and answer questions. 

She even began asking questions herself- just for him. She began to enjoy her classes- because of him. They both became co-stars of the class. And all this was solely to gain his respect and approval. This superman gave her the courage to blossom and flower into the person that she was albeit for the wrong reasons.

She did not even know his name and never had the courage to speak with him directly a single word. Not even a “hi”. She had passed him many times in the corridors of the Engineering faculty. She came face to face with him almost everyday going in and out of lectures - But not a word. She actually preferred this silent acknowledgement to a thousand meaningless conversations. 

She was sure he noticed her. She subconsciously hoped that he equally admired her and secretly reaped support and comfort from his presence.

This was supposed to be their last class together for the year. He was not here to share this monumental occasion with her and help her through it all. What was worse is that she had finally managed to buy herself a pair of glasses. She had been saving up for it the whole year and eventually managed to correct her shortsightedness with her new spectacles. She desperately wanted to see him now; to confirm and engrave his features in her mind. Everything looked so crisp and clear through her spectacles. The colours beautifully distinct with boundaries. No fuzziness. But too late. Who knows when she will ever see him again.

The lecture ended. Not a word in her notepad. She packed her things in her bag and slowly moved towards the exit door. She waited for everyone to leave then dragged her heavy heart behind her and left the theater – for the last time.

“Excuse me, would you mind if I asked you a question”. She lifted her head to identify the speaker. Black framed spectacles, hair carefully combed to one side, but a green and blue striped jumper?! It was him, but how can that be? What happened to Clark Kent. His brilliant clever brown eyes were not there. Instead, a set of round very ordinary and some what smallish grey eyes hid behind his thick spectacles. His face was dotted with pimples, his forehead sweaty, his eyebrows flat and expressionless. 

He wanted her help in solving a complex equation on a past exam paper. He presented the paper with the question. His hands were nervous and his finger nails were extremely short as a result of habitual biting.

She recovered graciously from the shock and accompanied him to the library to solve the problem. 

That day, she gained a new sense of independence. She was free at last. She did not need Clark Kent anymore.


Saba Hakim

Hats

The three children sat on the blue carpet, all cross legged and eagerly looking up to their father as he settled in his big armchair.

Their mother was sitting across the room where she could see her husband, and the children’s backs, but the children couldn’t see her without turning around.  She does this on purpose whenever there is an important family meeting.

Dad glanced at Mother seeking her support, and gathering his thoughts.  She smiled and gave him a reassuring glance.

“My babies,” he began.  His voice was warm and deep. “Something exciting is happening.”  The children opened heir eyes wide, and gave Dad an expectant look.  “We are going away to a new country, a beautiful place where we will make all our dreams come true.”

The children looked at each other in surprise.  They looked back at Dad with questioning eyes.

“Your mother and I have been thinking about this for a long time.  We are not happy here.  There are too many bad things happening.”

“Yes, dad, I know.  Kitty died last week, and she was my best friend”, confirmed Xina.  Her beautiful eyes were ready with a full supply of gorgeous pearl tears.  Xina, aged 4, loved kitty the cat very much and its death was a great shock to her.

“And my teacher told me yesterday that I must work harder on my spelling.  She gave me a six for my spelling test”, added Pan who was 7.

Nini  Raised her self to her knees and said with a high pitched voice and animated expression “Tina and Libby said they were not my friends anymore just because I didn’t share my ice-cream with them.  I tried to explain that, generally, sharing food is ok, but not when the food is ice-cream.  I had to sit by myself all of lunch.”  Her cheeks were turning bright red.  She was Pan’s twin.

“Settle down kids and listen to Dad, he hasn’t finished yet”.  Mother gave Dad another reassuring look.

Dad took a deep breath, and held on firmly to the arms of his big chair.  “Yes, well, people here are very strange.  They love material things.  Shops are getting bigger, they are everywhere, and there are more things to need every day.   People here change mobiles and computers faster than the time needed to update a haircut.    They use up so much space and still want more space, bigger cars, fancier homes.  Oh, and when it comes to relationships, they are very very strange.  They love to talk endlessly but they don’t really know how to listen.  They fall in love so quickly and fall out of love so easily.  They eat so much more than what their bodies need, and leave the poor to starve.  Then they spend their money trying to loose all that weight they gained from eating so much.  They are opportunistic in every way.  They feel so proud if they manage to give away a few dollars to charity, but they make sure it’s a tax deductable charity.  People here don’t mean what they say.  They are never satisfied with what they have.  It’s too exhausting trying to fit in.”

The children had heard their Dad talk like this before.  They didn’t really understand what he was saying, but they understood that dad was unhappy.  Now they looked unhappy too.  They were like three little unhappy poppies

Dad continued, “So now we found a new place where all this doesn’t happen.  A better place for you to grow up in”.

“Really?” cried the children with excitement.  Their expressions immediately taking on a happy form..

“Yes,” replied father. “last month, I read an amazing book.  It is a very old book but it has the most beautiful things in it.”

The children gathered closer to dad ready to be told about this amazing book.  Nini asked Dad to tell her the name of the book.  Dad said that it was called “The teachings of Master Zed”.

Dad went on. “The book teaches people to be good and honest.  It teaches them to listen a lot and talk a little.  It also teaches them to care about each other and about their heart, instead of caring about money and clothes”.  Dad punched the air with his big fists, “Oh, how excited I was when I first read it.”

Mother was starting to get excited too. Her cheeks gathered colour and her eyes brightened.  The smile continued to encourage Dad.

“I made some searches on the computer and I found the country that the book came from.  The whole country follows the teachings of this book.  So we decided to go and live there.”

The children clapped their hands in excitement and shouted hurray together.

The days passed quickly as the family prepared to leave their homeland and travel to Zed Land, the land of their dreams.

When the family arrived at the airport of Zed Land, a gentleman with a round long hat greeted them.  His name was Zig. The Family was welcomed and treated as very special.  They were given a lot of attention.  People smiled at them and waved.    All the men at the airport wore long round hats just like Zig’s hat.

Zig took the family to a small room to have a rest and to talk.  There were three other men in the room.  They all had three long round hats.  Zig introduced them to Dad and Mother.  The three men had names all beginning with Z and composed of three letters; Zab, Zil, and Zok.  The children thought this was amusing and giggled.  The three men nodded and left the room.

Zig invited the family to sit on the carpeted floor.  Zig opened a small door in the wall and took out two hats.  “One for you my brother, and one for your young son”.  He smiled and looked kindly at Pan.  “I am sorry if the hat is a little big for you young man, but I am sure that you will grow into it”.  Pan took the hat and thanked Zig.

Dad sounded reluctant. “Why do we have to wear the hats? Is it the custom here?”

“I thought you knew, brother. Everyone who believes in the teachings of our great Master Zed, must follow in his footsteps and wear a long round hat.  Those who do not do so are not true believers”.  Zig now lowered his voice. “There are people who try to twist the teachings of our Master Zed.  They try to change it to suit their own ways.  They are terrible people.  You must wear the hat my brother, you must wear it.”

Dad tried the hat on.  The children thought he looked funny but they didn’t dare laugh.  Pan tried it on too.  It was very wide.  His eyes disappeared under the rim of the hat.  Xina couldn’t help herself and gave out a loud innocent laugh.  This caused Pan and Nini to explode with laughter, followed by Mother and Dad.

Zig didn’t laugh at all.  He was looking very serious.  So everyone stopped laughing and looked very serious too.

“And you must change your name, brother.  You must choose a name that starts with Z.  The name must have only three letters.  It is a sign of commitment to carry on this way.  As for your son, you can wait until he turns 11.  Then, you must change the name or you would be in trouble with the authorities”.  He winked at Dad.

Dad was starting to feel a little uncomfortable about all these requirements.  Zig excused himself for a few minutes and went out to get the family some lunch and organise some paperwork.

Mother held Dad’s hand.  “Don’t look so worried.  Everything will be alright.”  Dad smiled and pressed mother’s delicate hands with his two big brown hands.

A few days passed by.  Zig located a job for Dad working in a small factory.  Dad wore his hat every day to work and back. 

Now, Dad was serious most of the time.  He didn’t laugh with the children like he used to do before he came to Zed Land.  Mother was busy at first organising the one bedroom home that the family rented from a friend of Zig.  When that was organised, she became bored.  There was nothing for her to do except cook and look after the children.  Women weren’t allowed to work in Zed Land because they didn’t ware hats.  Nini thought it an odd rule because women weren’t allowed to wear the hats in the first place.

One day, as Dad was having lunch with his co-workers, a man by the name of Zol took him a side and started to speak with him in a low voice.  He asked Dad about his life and where he had come from.  He asked him about the hat and why he was wearing it.  Then he invited him and the family to come to dinner and meet Zol’s family.

Dad thought it was a good idea to meet new people and make new family friends.  So on the appointed day, Mother, Dad and the three children went to Zol’s house for dinner.  They knocked on the door.  A few moments passed.  Zol opened the door.  Everyone was surprised by Zol’s appearance.  He was wearing a very short and very square hat.  It looked strange on him.  They had gotten used to seeing all the men in town wearing long round hats.

Zol smiled and invited the family in.  During dinner, Dad asked Zol the reason for wearing a short square hat.  Zol, laughed, then looked suspiciously at Dad.  “I trust you, my friend.  I know that you will not betray me.  You are new here and you don’t know much about Zed Land”.  He drew closer to Dad.  “I am a true follower of Master Zed’s teachings.  I wear this hat because it is the exact shape of the hat that our Master wore.  The people here are trying to destroy the teachings of our Master, so they changed the shape of his hat too.  They are very cruel to us who follow the true path of the Master.  They disallow us to appear in public with our short square hats.  And… there are so many things they do wrong here.  They are bad, they are.  They tell wrong things about Master Zed.  They say here that the Master had a son.  You may have heard of him?”  Dad nodded affirmatively.  “Do you know that they built a shrine for the son and made his birthday, a holiday.  But the truth is that Zed had no sons of his own.  He only had a stepson.  And the stepson was a conniving evil man.  He contradicted Zed in all the Master’s teachings.  The stepson was the one who started the whole issue with the long round hats.  Do you know that just before Master Zed died, he told his closest friends that they must promise never to follow the footsteps of the evil stepson.  This was 700 years a go. Our Master would be so disappointed if he were to come back alive and see all these long round hats floating about on our heads”

Zol hadn’t touched his dinner.  It was getting cold.  Dad looked worried.  He was worried about the hats. 

“Why don’t you wear this hat to work? Why do you wear the long hat instead?”  Father asked.

Zed looked shocked by the question, “Are you mad brother? If I wear this hat to work, I would be declared a disbeliever and would immediately loose my rights as a Zed Citizen.  No one would dare help me or give me work.  I would end up a stateless beggar”.  Zol shook his head then continued. “No, brother, I must not show my true beliefs here.  But don’t worry, don’t worry.  Things will change soon.”  He smiled, “You see I am part of a larger group and we intend to fight the long round hatted group.  The truth will eventually win.” He then looked at his dinner.  His face gathered a worried expression.  His wife immediately noticed and rushed to him, taking away his plate.  She disappeared in the kitchen for a few minutes then returned with a steaming plate of food for her husband.  Zol began eating quickly.

Before they left the dinner party, Zol gave Dad a bundle of books to read.  He warned Dad to be careful about them and not to show them to anyone.  They were prohibited books.

Months passed in this new land.  Dad grew more confused every day.  He didn’t know which hat was the right one.  This seemed important to him.  After all he had to wear the hat everyday.  The hat symbolised his beliefs.  He felt he was carrying the weight of Zed’s teachings on his head.  It would be very wrong if he were to wear the incorrect hat, especially if the hat was purposely designed by a mean spirited stepson in defiance of Master Zed.

There were other things worrying Dad.  There were too many rules, security and prohibitions.  People were not really being honest about their beliefs.  They were afraid to be honest.  There were so many fights happening and killings between the long round hatted people and the short square hatted people.

Each group claimed to be following the truth.  They talked and shouted at each other.  They didn’t listen to each other.  “What is the truth?” Dad wondered. 

Dad was now very unhappy.  He never smiled at all.  The children were sad too.  Other children at school always asked them if they were really long round hatted people, or square short hatted people in disguise.  The children didn’t understand the difference.  Their friends told them that everyone hates short square hatted people because they were wicked.  The children didn’t understand why a hat should be so important in deciding whether someone is wicked or not.  And why would anyone choose to wear something that makes them wicked in the first place.

One day, as Dad was returning home from a very long day at the factory, he saw an old man sitting cross legged on the ground.  He was very thin and weak.  He looked very poor.  His beared was long and white.  He wore the most peculiar hat on his head.  It was neither long nor short.  It was just right there in the middle – a perfect length.  The body of the hat was square shaped but with rounded edges.  Dad, astonished by the old man’s appearance, walked towards him and asked him about the hat.  The old man smiled.  “It is not the hat that is important,” he replied, and closed his eyes.  Dad didn’t want to bother the old man so he went on walking.  The next day, Dad found the old man in the same spot, but this time he was dead.  He was covered in blood.  His hat was gone, and next to him was a sign with the words “In the name of our Great Master Zed” written with blood. 

In the evening of that day, Dad gathered his children around him.  His wife sat across the room facing her husband looking at him smiling.  “Children,” he said with an important tone.  “We are leaving Zed Land”.

When the family returned to their homeland, Dad put his hat in a box and kept it in his closet.  Whenever he felt confused or upset about something important, he would go to his box and take the hat out.  He would put it on and walk around the room.  He would then sit on the carpet and think.  This always seemed to help him sort out his problems.

Dad continued to read the old Master Zed book.  He taught the children to follow the things in the book because they were important, good things.

Once, Xina asked Dad to draw her a picture of Master Zed.  She wanted to know how he looked like.  Dad drew an old man sitting crossed legged.  He drew a long white beared, and smiling lips.  Xina asked what kind of hat he wore.  Was it square and short or long and round?  Dad replied “It is not the hat that’s important”.

Saba Hakim