The dream in the dock!!!! Short story

 

Dr. Mohammed Dabasha

 

Between the dream and reality there are distances that cannot be measured by the standards of time, but rather have special calculations controlled by circumstances and the relationship of man with time and place, and what this man gains from freedoms and what repression plays in human behavior, here the cards are mixed and we cannot distinguish between the dream and reality and for this reason Shaaban was unable to get out of the bottleneck in which he lived in a permanent autumn that no other seasons change except for a dream that haunted him from time to time that tomorrow he would have a great affair.

On a night when the moon was full, casting its rays on a room in an old house built of mud bricks, it was Shaaban's worn-out world, or rather a graveyard, where he lived like the people of the cave, waiting for a glimmer of life to revive him. He stood and looked in a small mirror hanging on the wall and saw a dream passing in front of him, and a large procession of luxury cars driving behind him until they reached the palace and sat on the throne surrounded by senior state officials. He smiled broadly for a moment and remembered what he used to hear from his mother when she used to advise him, "My son, the walls have ears", take care of your candle and tie it. He looked behind him and was reassured that he was alone and in the morning the dream that he had been waiting for for a long time would come true. Hours passed, successive knocks on the door of his house, which almost made him faint from the violence. He hurried and headed towards the door, opened it quickly and found police cars and a group of soldiers armed to the teeth. He smiled and thought that they were the honor that would accompany him to the palace. Their leader approached him and asked him to go with them. Indeed, he got into the police car in silence until he reached the police station. He opened the report and gave the investigator his name and address. The question was, what do you say about what is attributed to you that you overthrew the regime in the country? He smiled and did not answer. You are accused of overthrowing the regime and appointing yourself president of the country. He was silent for a while and asked the investigator for a glass of water. He drank what he drank and fell to the ground unconscious. Days and days passed while he was in this condition, not knowing what was happening. One morning, he found himself in an iron cage inside the criminal court.

The doorman: Court.

Everyone present in the hall stood up. The judge and his assistants entered. He called the accused. Shaaban paid attention and raised his hand to the judge. After directing the accusation at him, and after the judge gave him permission to defend himself, the judge decided that the verdict was after deliberation. He and his assistants left the courtroom.

Minutes and hours passed and the judge did not come out. Shaaban closed his eyes. The hall disappeared with its attendees and the iron cage disappeared. He opened his eyes and approached the mirror hanging on the wall next to his mother's picture. He looked at it angrily. It fell to the ground and scattered all over the room. He smiled at his mother and looked around here and there and said: May God have mercy on you, my mother.

Then he headed to a corner of the room, raised an old axe on his shoulder and left his house looking for a new day.