the dark mountain

"Imagine that" In "1990/20/John" (Adam), who is 38 years old, returned home after the bankruptcy of the textile company in which he was working as an accountant, and he was fired after spending (4) years in hard work. He was on his way home while he was driving his car, and suddenly he received a phone from his 36-year-old wife (Laila), telling him that the hospital near the district where his father lived was informing them that his father (Daniel) had died, who was the last member of his family after his mother. "These are misfortunes, they do not come singly." He parked the car and lowered his head, his eyes teary, and his sigh brought out a great deal of sadness in his chest and heart. He arrived at his home near the city in which he was working, after about half an hour of driving. He entered his house in a state that no one envied. His wife greeted him and said after she embraced him: “I am really sorry for what happened to your father, and this is the world in which nothing remains the same.” He replied: "Yes, it's a pity that I wasn't with him at his last minute." His response to him realized:- "But he knew that you loved him with all your heart, and if it wasn't for your work in the city, I would have been with him at that moment." He looked at her and looked at her, and she said: " Whats going on? ". He said :- “I will tell you later, but now where are the children (Omar) and (Salma)?” - (Omar) is 11 years old and (Salma) is 9 - she replied:- "They're upstairs playing in the warehouse between items." He said:- "And did you tell them anything?" She said:- "No, you wanted to tell them." So Adam went up there and found them inspecting the old boxes in the upper storeroom, and when the sons saw their father hugging him tightly - they really love their father -( Omar) was surprised by his father's dry reaction towards him, so he asked in disapproval: "What is it? Have you lost your wallet again?!". - By the way, yes, he always lost his wallet. The father replied:- "No, but I lost something more valuable." He was silent for a moment, and after he patted Salma's head, he said: "You know, ?(Omar), I want to tell you something, come with me." And (Adam) and (Omar) went out with him to the back garden of the house, placing his hand on his son's shoulder, and the weather was beautiful with some scattered clouds, with weeds wet with rainwater and some birds chirping, He (Adam) said: “Do you know, my beautiful son, that your grandfather always asked about you?” Reply (Omar):- “Really, I love him so much, I would like to visit him this holiday, what do you think?” Father's reply: " Oh really !! ". And he began to mumble in his mouth, not knowing how to tell his son, so he fell silent for a moment and took a deep breath, and before he started speaking (Salma) came out to them crying, and she says: "My grandfather has turned into an angel, and we will never see him again." Looks like Layla is faster than Adam at telling people the bad news. The son looked at his father sadly and said: "Oh really?!!". The father shook his head - that is, confirming what his daughter had said - and wanted to include his son, but he ran towards the house, then to his separate room, and closed the door hard, his mother tried to talk to her son, but he did not open the door for her. --21/ john-- And the next morning, at the breakfast table of varied food, and in an atmosphere surrounded by sadness, the father, daughter and mother sat eating food, but the son was still in his room and did not go down. The father asked his wife: "Why didn't he (Omar) come down to eat?" response:- "He is still affected by his grandfather's death, but don't worry it will get better, but tell me, why didn't you go to work today?!" Adam looked at his daughter and then at his wife and said: "The company went bankrupt." He replied with amazement: "What!!, the company went bankrupt?!!, What are you going to do now?!!". He said :- "I was thinking all night about that, and I decided that we should go to my father's farm south of the city?" She looked at him disapprovingly, as she was used to the hustle and bustle of cities and had never thought that she would live in a quarrel among animals and herbs. Meanwhile, Salma shouted rejoicing, and she hesitated: "Farm, farm, we're going to the farm." Omar quickly descended the stairs. “What?, Farm!” The son and wife weren't impressed with that idea. The father said:- “Yes, and after we finish our breakfast, we will go and arrange our things that we will take with us tomorrow.” The wife responded with anger and denunciation: "What!!, tomorrow!!, why didn't you ask me if you wanted to go or not, it's not just your life." The father got up from his chair quickly, angry, and his voice rose And he said:- “What do you want me to do, the company is bankrupt, and I can’t do anything.” Then he lowered his voice and sat down, and continued, saying:— "This farm is the last thing left for us, and I promised my father that one day I would go there and take care of it, and that day has come." He said this while looking at his wife's face, holding her hand, some tears in his eyes. When (Omar) saw his father in this condition, he went and hugged him, and so did (Salma). In the evening, they all went to the upper warehouse, and while the parents were getting their things ready to go, the sons were busy choosing what toys to take with them, (Laila) asked her husband, in a low voice, so that her children would not hear her: "Didn't you tell me in the past, that this farm is scary and strange things happen on it, or have you forgotten?!" He replied:- "I did not forget, but that was in the past, that is, 12 years ago. I think that this period of time will change everything." -By the way, tell her about that thing in their first meeting before marriage, a strange thing that she accepted as a husband- Meanwhile, (Salma) called her father, asking:- "Can I take all my toys?!" . The father said:- "Yes, of course, my dear." (Salma) looked at (Omar), and let out her tongue mockingly, but (Omar) did not care about her, as he did not have many games. -- 22/ 6 -- And the next day, at nine o'clock in the morning, the father had fixed the necessary items and necessities on the car, and (Salma) brought some of her toys, and (Omar) brought the soccer ball that his grandfather gave him, as it is a good memory not for him but for the family, and they set out on their way towards South - meaning towards the farm -, and after (3) hours of driving, the children were bored from the long distance. (Omar) said: "How long until we get there? I feel tired." The father looked at him in the upper mirror, and at his daughter (Salma) sleeping next to (Omar), then he looked at his wife, who was tired from traveling, especially when they were overtaken by noon, and said: "No, we almost got there." Meanwhile, (Salma) woke up frightened and started crying, her mother looked at her, and asked her in fear: "What's wrong, my love, take it easy, I'm by your side, don't be afraid, it's just a dream." After she calmed down a bit, Salma asked a question that made her father stop the car aside, as he was not used to hearing such questions from (Salma), she said surprised: - “Father, when my grandfather was without a hand?.” (Adam) was astonished at her question, because he did not tell her, nor his wife, nor his son, about this matter, that his father's hand (Daniel) was cut off. His wife looked at him surprised, and turned to her daughter, frightened and surprised, and asked her: “Who told you that?!” She (Salma) said: She told me in a dream. He (Adam) said: “Hey!! Who is she? What do you mean?” She said :- (Saga) The father said:- "Who, and from this (Saga)" The daughter said:- " I do not know". Laila asked her husband: "Is this true?! Is your father cut off his hand?!" He hesitantly said: " Yes ". reply to him:- "But, I remember when he came to visit us, he didn't cut his hand!!" He answered, saying:- "He was hiding it, putting on a wooden hand, and then he'd sit with us a few minutes and go away, you wouldn't have noticed." After this period of astonishment, he completed his way and after a few minutes, and after the city became very far, and after they were between the trees and the vast green plains, (Adam) looked at the map, and said: "We must go down this dirt road." This was the only road that reached the farm. It was very dreadful, the trees tangled all the way through, and the sounds of animals like dogs and wolves even squirrels, made this road a nightmare for the children. And after about an hour of taking this rugged road between high mountains and deep valleys, a hill appeared in the distance, on top of which there was a hut, a stable, and a chicken coop. Or another farm, and when Adam saw it, he stopped the car and said: "Look, we've arrived." The feeling was turbulent, the children were happy with their arrival after the trouble of traveling, and the mother was afraid and sad to leave her home in the city, but the father was filled with sad, happy, and even frightening memories after seeing the scene. They continued the walk until they arrived, and the sun was almost setting. The father got out of the car first, examined the place with his own eyes, and saw that the fence of the farm made of wood was still strong, and it seemed to him that there was someone inhabiting it, and he said to his family:— "Stay in the car until I get back." The mother said, disapproving:— " Whats going on?!". He said :- “They have stayed where you are, and no one is following me, do you understand?” (Adam) went, and approached the outer gate of the farm, and found it tightly closed. He said to himself: "Perhaps one of my father's friends closed it after his death." Then he went round the fence, and the sun had set completely, and because the farm was on the top of the hill and among the mountains, it was shrouded in fog, and the weather was always cold and rainy. While walking around the fence, he found another hut, which had not been there since the last time he visited his father before he died, so he wondered, especially since this hut was a little big, and it was dark, so he decided to go and take a closer look. Meanwhile, his family was waiting for him in the car, which he was far away from, and they were bored and tired, especially Omar, who was used to playing with the ball that his grandfather gave him, He asked his mother to go down and play with her, but his mother refused and said:— "Did you not hear your father? Be calm like your sister, and wait for your father to come." Omar looked at Salma, who was warm with the blanket she had put on herself since the car had been parked. And he wanted to provoke her anger, so he hit the ball that was in his hand on her, but she did not react, so he repeated the ball, but without reacting, so he took off the blanket to discover that it was not under it, so he shouted to his mother, saying:— “Mom!?, Mom!?, (Salma) is not in the car.” She looked at him, very frightened, and diagnosed her eyes with fear for her daughter. On the other side, Adam had approached the strange hut, and he began to hear the sound of wolves howling around him, but he did not see them. He picked up a large stick from the ground to defend himself if one of the wolves attacked him. He turned his body very slowly, until he saw what he did not expect, a large wolf, two meters long, with large fangs, and eyes of different colors, red and blue, and thick, pale brown hair. That this is the end, the wolf looked at him and approached him until he reached his head, here (Adam) closed his eyes ready to die, but was surprised that the wolf only smelled his comfort, then he went towards the hut whose door had been opened, and at this door was a small child near His age is the same as his son (Omar), the wolf approached this child, and patted the child on the wolf's head, then the wolf went to the forest next to the hut, and then came out of the hut another child, and this other child began to approach him carrying an oil lamp, and he got closer and closer, and he was (Adam) thinks, What is this I am with, the child approached until (Adam) arrived, and then (Adam) was shocked by what he saw, that it is his daughter (Salma), and she said: "Hey dad, why are you late? We are all waiting for you." He replied, in a loud voice of anger: "Didn't I tell you to wait for me with your mother in the car, what brings you here?" Then his wife came out of this hut, with her (Omar) and said:— "(Adam), what's wrong with you? Come and get to know our neighbor." And (Salma) grabbed her father's hand and escorted him into the hut, and the strange child closed the door. (Adam) entered the hut and had many questions, but he forgot them when he saw the large dining table, and the warm atmosphere was the opposite of the atmosphere outside the hut, and after he signaled to him - without speaking - that strange child to sit, (Adam) went He sat next to his wife, who seemed to feel comfortable and reassured, as did Omar and Salma. Omar said to his father, excited and happy: “Father, I will introduce you to my new friend.” He went and held the hand of that strange child and said: “This is him, his name is Ramez, can we play together?” Amidst the astonishment of (Adam) by what he saw shortly before this child (Ramez), what he could do but nod, he shook his head in agreement with his son's request. Meanwhile, an old woman, hunched back, wrinkled face and hands, dressed in black, blind right eye, and with white hair, came out of the kitchen next to the table, holding a pot of soup in her hand, comforting and delicious. Adam's feelings were troubled again, the sight increased him with fear and anxiety. This old woman put the pot on the table, very slowly as he walked, and looked at (Adam) who was trembling for his family, and this old man said in a cold voice with a frightening smile: "A new guest, welcome, that's what I like the most, guests at dinner." Laila replied to this welcome saying:- “Thank you, the food is so delicious.” And with that same frightening smile, this old woman replied to her: “Healthy and congratulations, start eating before it gets cold.” Then I looked at (Adam) and looked at him for a long time, and (Layla) said: "Yes right, I forgot to introduce you to my husband...". Before she could finish the conversation, the old woman said: “(Adam Ibn Daniel), it was an honor to meet you.” The wife was astonished, that they knew each other and said:— "Have you met before?" The old man replied very coldly in words:— "No, but (Salma) told me everything, and now start eating, I'm tired of preparing it." The family began to eat, with no real desire to eat after this strange conversation, but at least they took shelter from the rain outside the hut, and when they finished eating, (Adam) got up from the chair he was sitting on when eating, and said:— "Thank you for hosting this, but you didn't tell us your name." Salma got up and said: She's my new friend, Saga. The father looked at Saga, with a worried look, and said:— " nice to meet you ". Then he said :- "Come on, let's go, it's getting late." Saga looked at him and said: "Wait, I'll give you something." She went to one of the adjacent shelves, took a key, gave it to him, and said: "This is the key to your father's farm, he gave it to me before he died, and since then I have been cleaning that farm and taking care of it, and now you take it and take care of it." (Adam) took the key and said: “Thank you very much.” Then he said to his family, "Let's go home." (Ramez) took them to their farm, then when they entered he left without speaking to them all the way. When the family entered the house, they found it really clean, and lit some candles, and (Adam) said: “Today we have all been through strange things, and now we are tired, let us not all sleep in the living room by the fireplace. Tomorrow, I will have a lot of questions, but now go to sleep.” Indeed, (Omar) put some wood in the fireplace and lit it, and they arranged places to sleep, and they all slept in one moment from the severity of their fatigue. ----------Wait for the next chapter-------- Email :- akleek2@gamil.com instgram : akleek_m