Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Heaven on earth under the rain cloud

Saleh
Saleh
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The fluffy clouds as they float above made me stop to look. Because the sun was obstructed by the fluffiness of the clouds, sharp rays of the sun cast golden lines on the sky. More golden lines were floating with the water towards the beach.


Then a thought crossed my mind as I was watching the amazing sight. If the site of paradise would be in that general spot, then I would not budge and would have stayed right there.


From a distance of about a hundred metres away, a velvety fog descended, it curled sideways and I thought I saw a phantom right into it. It turned out it was a man walking on the beach covered by the smoke of the fog.


I let my imagination drift further when I saw two more ‘phantoms’ in the fog. In that earthly spot of paradise, I liken them as angels, wandering in the fringes of heaven.


I was brought back to ‘earth’ with a roar of an engine of a sports car on the road next to the beach. I wouldn’t need a sports car in paradise. I wouldn’t be in a hurry to go anyway. Two more cars passed by at break-neck speed, swishing past me, at a place where I was sitting on the beach embankment.


They were oblivious to the surroundings in their blinding rush. Perhaps they were trying to run faster than the time. I think the world is a better place when you slow down and observe the surroundings. Everything on the sky was running in perfect harmony with the time. A few billion years have passed and the sun is still shining down the earth. The moon never compromised either while the stars were content to maintain their positions as years rolled by. We humans have less than a decade to live and yet, we try to outpace everything.


My thoughts for the fellow humans were interrupted by tiny raindrops. I opened the palm of my hands and watched them fall on them. I still had my hands stuck out when the drops turned heavy. I let the rainwater trickle slowly between my fingers and dropped on my knees. I splashed the water on my face the way I apply my after-shave every morning. By then, the golden lines on the sky had disappeared. The fluffy clouds became dense and dark. Then came my favourite part of the rainy day.


I saw the silver streaks of the lightening between two dark clouds. They lit up everything on the sky, just momentarily, before the darkness reigned over the sky once again. By then, I was thoroughly drenched by rainwater, but I did not mind being under the rain cloud. That was the place I wanted to be to escape the routine of my day. Before I started walking back home, I took a last look at the sky, the beach and the rushing waves.


I could not help thinking that when we take the time and look at the right places, certain places have endless entertainment. When I was crossing the road, I saw the ugly part of life. Someone in the rush of driving back home, ran over a puppy. When I reached the other side, I saw a rain-soaked dog looking at the puppy. I stopped and tried to anticipate what was on its mind at that moment. I did not have to wait long. The old dog crossed the road, got its paws wet on the puddles of water and stopped next to the puppy.


In an intense moment of grief, I watched the dog sniffing the body of the puppy. Then it started licking the young animal’s body as if to soothe away the pain of death. My heart was heavy as I watched them.


I continued walking home thinking the two parallels of life, in just a distance of a hundred metres.


Saleh Al-Shaibany


saleh­_shaibany@yahoo.com


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