Three Stories (Story Three - Part five - finale)

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

(Story Three)

Part Five - Finale

Prince Jassem's Wish

A reporter was broadcasting live from Washington, DC. Behind him several cars had crashed into each other. Jassem and his family gathered in front of the television.

“Quiet!” shouted Jassem at Princess Sara who was still crying.

“The U.S. capital is in a state of complete chaos and disarray. It is a little after five in the morning and, as you can see, it is still dark. Many people are out in the streets trying to find out what has happened. Some people are looking for their relatives who have suddenly disappeared. I spoke to a few people and based on what I have gathered, it appears that only Americans have disappeared and nationals of other countries who live in the city have not been affected.”

Prince Jassem and his relatives looked at each other in shock.

Three Stories (Story Three - Part four)

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

(Story Three)

Part Four

Prince Jassem's Wish

 

The next morning, Jassem left the mansion at a quarter to five when it was still dark. This time he walked all the way to the tree that he had spotted the day before. He sat under the tree for almost an hour.  The beautiful view and the quiet environment put him in a calm and peaceful mood. He was still thinking about what had happened to him and to Professor Ubaid over the past two weeks, but these thoughts were not associated with anger and anxiety anymore. He recalled his long conversations with Professor Ubaid and thought about the Professor’s vision for a new generation of younger, patriotic leaders in the Gulf countries. Even though he had blown his own chance for leading this change, he still longed to play a role. Then it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps he could still play a part in fulfilling the Professor’s dream by working with Hamed.

If I can work with Hamed, I can help him become the kind of leader that Professor Ubaid was hoping for, he said to himself. Hamed still looks up to me. I should maintain a close relation with him when I return. When the time is right, I should talk to him about the Professor’s vision.

Three Stories (Story Three - Part three)

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

(Story Three)

Part Three

Prince Jassem's Wish

After an early morning visit to one of the development projects with Nidal, Prince Jassem arrived at his office a little after eight o’clock. During their drive back to the tourism office they talked about the full eclipse of the sun that was to take place on June 21^st.

“Too bad it won’t be visible in Bahrain. Hamed flew to South Africa yesterday to see the eclipse from there,” commented Prince Jassem.

Three Stories (Story Three - Part two)

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

(Story Three)

Part Two

Prince Jassem's Wish

 

The Wednesday evening reception began with a formal meeting at five o’clock, which was primarily a photo opportunity for the media in the large reception room of the Al-Qudaibiya Palace. Prince Jassem and Prince Hamed were sitting immediately to the right of their father while the American Ambassador and the three American Senators were sitting to the left of the King. Bahrain’s Prime Minister, who was the King’s younger brother, and the Foreign Minister, one of the King’s cousins, were also present.  The highly stylish chairs were placed in a U-formation in the center of the large gallery with no table in the center. Instead, the open floor surface was covered by a large hand-woven Persian carpet.

Three Stories (Story Three - part one)

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

(Story Three)

Part one

Prince Jassem's Wish

Friday May 25, 2001

When Prince Jassem drove his silver Mercedes Benz SUV to the front gate of the palace compound, he didn’t have to wait or say anything. As soon as he lowered the dark window of his car, the guards recognized him and opened the gates. Most often, Jassem would use a driver but, once in a while, he would feel like driving and today was one of those days. Jassem quickly drove through the beautiful landscape that surrounded his father’s palace. He was supposed to be there at twelve o’clock to join his parents and his wife for lunch, and his watch showed 12:40 PM. As he walked quickly into the main reception room, he saw Princess Sara walk into the room from the hallway to the left that connected the dining room to the reception room. She quickened her pace as she walked toward him.

Three Stories (Story two - part four)

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

 Story two
Part Four

Ronen's Quest

The alarm went off at 4:30 am and despite feeling very tired and sleepy, Ronen dragged his body into the shower. He quickly got ready and walked down to the hotel lobby a minute before five. There was no one in the lobby except for a night clerk behind the counter. Ronen sat on a comfortable sofa and closed his eyes. He was planning to sleep in the car for the duration of the ride as well, but he was so sleepy that he quickly fell sleep on the sofa. It was the sound of conversation between two hotel guests nearby that woke him up, and he realized that it was half past seven and he must have missed the driver. But the driver would have surely spotted him if he had entered the lobby. Ronen walked to the registration desk and asked if anyone had asked for him. The answer was negative, and he had no messages either. He then walked back to his room and called Prince Jassem’s office manager, Mr. Marvin, and asked him about the driver that was supposed to come after him.

“Haven’t you watched the news this morning, Mr. John?” asked Marvin.

Three Stories (Story Two- part three)

Three Stories One Middle East 

 Nader Habibi

(Story Two- Part three)

Ronen's  Quest

He returned to his hotel and, later that afternoon, Mahmoud and Salman took him to a meeting with Sheikh Husni Hamudeh. It was clear to everyone that something was distracting John and that he was not fully focused on the interview. The interview took about ninety minutes but going through multiple Israeli checkpoints took well over two hours each way. By the time Ronen returned to his hotel, it was almost seven o’clock. A few minutes after his arrival, his cell phone rang. It was Anatoli. 

Three Stories (Story two-part two) Nader Habibi

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

 Story two
Part Two

Ronen's Quest

Ishaq Kahn had just finished his breakfast and was about to leave his apartment when he heard the doorbell ring. He never had any visitors in the morning and wondered who it might be. It was part of his daily routine to go for a walk in a nearby park after breakfast three or four times a week, ever since he had retired two years ago. His physician had given him a serious warning about keeping his weight down after his last check up. Two other retired teachers from the same high school that he had worked in for more than fifteen years also joined him regularly. They lived in Ashdod – a small city south of Tel Aviv. His wife, Ariel, had left home earlier that day for a doctor’s appointment. Surely the person at the door couldn’t be her because she would have used her key. 

Three Stories (Story two - Part one)

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

      

Story Two  
Part one

Ronen's Quest 

 

It was a little after six o’clock in the afternoon of Tuesday, June 5, 2001 when Ronen finally managed to get to Beit Urshalim Hospital in Tel Aviv. He immediately approached an elderly lady sitting behind the information desk. She was talking to a nurse and another clerk who sat next to her.

Three Stories (Story One: I Am Sarah) Part four

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

(Story one)

Part four

I Am Sarah

That evening both men told their wives what they had heard from the neurologist. Shahrzad cried most of the night. Jennifer had mixed emotions. She had already gone through the initial trauma of Sarah’s disappearance, and the bizarre possibility that Sarah’s brain was indeed found was a strange relief to her. By next morning, only Fatima and Yasmin were still in the dark about the test results. "What next?" was the big question in everyone’s mind.

Three Stories One Middle East (Story One : I AM Sarah) Part Three

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

(Story One)

Part Three 

I Am Sarah

To my second offspring, who asked me to dedicate my second novel to her after realizing that I had not dedicated my first novel to anyone. She was eight years old then. 

*****

    

Wednesday, June 20, 2001

Jennifer woke up at 4:30 am to the sound of an alarm. She wanted to drink a cup of coffee before making her phone call. Detective Owen had told her what to say and how to negotiate with whomever answered the phone in case the Khans refused to let her talk to their daughter. She had deliberately gone to bed early and, similar to the past few nights, had taken sleeping pills to help her rest. She didn’t feel tired or sleepy at all.

  

She carefully dialed the number. It rang more than six times but no one answered it. She tried again after five minutes – still no answer.  Were they deliberately not answering? She wondered. She called again after ten minutes and then again every ten minutes. After the fifth or sixth try she felt very anxious and so did John. Mrs. Khan knew she would call that afternoon; but why weren’t they answering the phone? It was around 6 am in Swarthmore (4 pm in Karachi) when finally someone picked up the phone and asked who it was in Urdu. It was the voice of a woman, but Jennifer realized that it was not Mrs. Khan. Jennifer politely asked for her. The woman shouted something in Urdu and the only word that Jennifer was able to partially recognize was a heavy accent pronunciation of America. Jennifer could here hear the footsteps of a person approaching the phone.

Three Stories One Middle East (Story One: I Am Sarah) Part two

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

To my second offspring, who asked me to dedicate my second novel to her after realizing that I had not dedicated my first novel to anyone. She was eight years old then. 

 

(Story one)

Part two

I Am Sarah

Swarthmore, Sunday, June 17, 2001

Nearly 24 hours had passed since Jennifer had realized that Sarah was missing. Twenty-four hours of anxiety and pain for her and her husband. Jennifer had barely had any sleep and looked exhausted. Her sister, who lived in Philadelphia, and two of her friends in Swarthmore, had come to comfort her. Her sister had stayed with them last night, and the two friends arrived in the early morning.

Three Stories One Middle East (Story one-part one)

Three Stories One Middle East

Nader Habibi

To my second offspring, who asked me to dedicate my second novel to her after realizing that I had not dedicated my first novel to anyone. She was eight years old then. 

Acknowledgement: I have received valuable editorial assistance from Marilyn R. Horowitz, Tiffany Roberts and Laila Batool. Tiffany and Laila also offered valuable suggestions for improving the segments of the novel that dealt with the national culture and local institutions in Israel and Pakistan respectively. 

Note: All characters in this novel are fictional. Any resemblance to real world characters is purely accidental.

All copyrights reserved (2014)

The cover page image is a public domain file that was downloaded from the following source: http://www.parstimes.com/MODIS/bm3_m.jpg

* Also by the same author:  Atul’s Quest (2003)

(Story one)

Part one

I Am Sarah

When the phone rang, Jennifer walked as fast as she could and almost pushed the phone off the table as she reached out for the receiver. 

“Hello?” she said, breathing heavily.

It was Zoe, her daughter’s classmate. “Hi Mrs. Goldberg. I just got home and my mom told me that you were looking for Sarah. Is everything ok?”

“No Zoe. Sarah isn’t home, and we don’t know were she is. I’m so worried.” Jennifer sounded very anxious, but Zoe didn’t seem alarmed by the situation. It was five minutes after noon on Saturday, and Sarah was an eighteen-year old woman. She could have been out for a number of perfectly good reasons.