Short story: Destination Error

Short story: Destination Error
Turkia Loussif  (Algeria)

           He puts a bouquet of roses in the broken vase, the pot was from the remains of his wife, who left without receiving farewell ceremonies worthy of them, scattered the leaves of roses that he received in a small party limited minutes
Thank you for spending so long working hard at the postman job.
Knocking on the door to receive an envelope from the postman and he was a young man in the prime of life, invited him to enter and gave him a cup of coffee
The young man was examining the old man early while he was touching the vase gently and sipping his coffee,,
I advise you to buy a pot to put the bouquet of roses, and around his gaze to the young man watching his reaction
The young man is still silent, and the old man burst out laughing
You might say what this old man says, but never mind
Open the envelope and read the content
It was an invitation to attend a week-long meeting with old friends in a hotel that witnessed their quarrels and relationships with women who frequented this small village where Badri breathed and met his wife, who accepted him as a husband with a bouquet of flowers and a simple ring.
He managed the numbers, fixed telephone oven and answered the receptionist
Your room is reserved sir, we are waiting for you to come
How many friends do I know?!
There are three of them, sir.
Three friends are still alive, and the fourth is early.
The young postman leaves after he tightens his grip on the old man, shaking hands and thanking him for the pleasure of coffee
A hot bath, and extracted from his closet his wedding suit, which remained in good condition, he tried to tie the tie but did not succeed so he threw it aside, and went out to the big street, stopped a taxi and negotiated with the driver in the taxi
It's a seven-hour ride and I want to take it alone, I don't want to listen to more passenger stories that they create in the back chair.
Wait for me in that café until I refuel the car, I said seven hours and we will reach the village at sunset and you have to buy some purchases, pies and water bottles
The road is still narrow and difficult due to the many zigzags, I became dizzy and nauseous, I asked the driver to stop until I emptied what was in Jovi
The driver said and I also have the same feeling, dizziness and nausea, we have to rest a little, the driver found it an opportunity to open up while contemplating the tired face of the man, but did not return to such a place that was abandoned by its inhabitants a bloody decade ago?
I have friends waiting for me in the small hotel, the air is fresh, I used to frequent this place in my youth and I met my wife and she was from another country and I taught her my language and I spoke and wrote it, she was a writer and records happy events only and ignores the sad ones and her papers are preserved and not yet printed, but I will print them in honor of her departure
A small truck stops, the vendor calls the two people, he took two watermelons from me, the path is empty of walkers as if the village there is abandoned, I woke up for hours and did not see anyone.
The Sheikh with his face pale, how did I receive the call and how did they learn about my retirement that day, I doubt the invitation I received, perhaps a trap, to leave the place immediately.
The pickup truck followed by the taxi, the truck was driving clearly slowly and the driver was unable to overtake it due to the narrow bumpy path, the old man changes his decision, and asks the driver to enter the village and pay him generously, the driver agrees and maneuvers in which he reviews his driving skills and receives praise from the old man
Have you raced cars before, don't say you're a risk-taker, that's what I need for my pulse to stop.
The driver doesn't care about the old man's words as long as the payment will be generously.
The features of a person tied to a tree trunk ending at a high slope, moaning and crying and the sound seems to a young girl, they disembarked and approached the place, she was about to fall and collapsed and clinging to a tight tie on her soft hands and the marks of the whip on her shoulders, the driver opened his mouth to the horror of the scene and yellowed his face, the old man made a quick reading of his companion and said: You are the most cowardly person on earth, let's save her, follow me. ..
The girl, with her tears dried from her eyeballs, glimpses a glimmer of hope for a life that remains, her savior pulls her and apologizes to her because the rescue was done harshly,
The girl throws herself in the old man's lap and gives her a minute to cry and then asks her about her engagements and she replies that she made a mistake on the side while she is a researcher and her car was stolen and violently by a masked person with a hoarse voice but she is fine
He asks her again, did a truck pass in front of you whose owner sells watermelons?
She responds in the affirmative and specifies his specifications, but he did not approach her, but fled from her and did not provide her with assistance, but did the watermelon seller also make a mistake in the destination and there is no sign that we are in the wrong destination
The village is still far away, so the old man repeated, and the hotel is located outside the village and in the middle of the green paradises. I was a postman and I worked for two years and I used to deliver messages to guests. Among them was my wife Melissa, who did not have children with me, and I respected her decision, and she left the house because of a bear quarrel between us. Then I heard that she traveled to her country and died there.
Darkness fell and the three approached the entrance of the hotel exhausted and calm hangs over the place and the reception assistant was not at his place of work and the wall clock indicates three in the morning
The three slept on the sofas prepared to receive the guests, and the help enters, wakes them up and offers them a coffee, and the smile does not leave his face, the help arranges the keys to the rooms: You are too late and the group left, and it appears that you have established a wonderful family after it
Old man: Who do you mean?
Who is the group?
Help: The old woman Melissa was here and waited for you and then left sad, she was accompanied by a beautiful miss and she was called by my mother
The old woman, but Melissa died thirty years ago or more, where is her room?
He accompanies the assistant and enters the room and finds a picture of the old Melissa hugging her daughter, the three leave the hotel and meet
.. The watermelon seller tells the old man that the car passed from the same direction, two hours is the walking distance, and the researcher glimpses her car and points to it while crying and screaming: This is my car.
The driver receives the order to speed up and stop the car, so he had what he wanted maneuver, the researcher applauded her a lot, and he pleased this driver

Time stopped in these moments, Melissa is alive and her daughter is with her and she became thirtieth , Badri brought at the time the notebook of the past, you loved me right, then you abandoned me, and you refused to have children from me and then disappeared and your companion announced the news of your death in your country, and you are alive living in another bosom
Betrayal has produced a beautiful girl like her mother
The old woman Melissa dismounts a few steps that make her face to face with the old woman early
You are the one who betrayed me with my friend one day and she was pregnant and I was pregnant too and my friend died and I invited her daughter to see her father and see her sister and even see me to tell her that her mother was a traitor and that she is the fruit of betrayal
And where is my other daughter?
Here she is in front of you, she became a researcher and I invited her as well as you to this disgusting meeting, how many rooms did you break into while you were presenting messages to the inmates?
The driver is exhausted by the old man's romances and shakes his head to the point of ridicule, the postman is more fortunate than me in winning over women
Old man: shut up
Then a slap
The driver gets in his car and calls out to the researcher: "Do you come with me or drive your car with your disgusting father, his disgusting wife, and your dull sister who shows her hostility to you in her looks?"
I'll get my car back from them and we'll do a race
The driver shows his approval and switches the smile

The researcher approaches the miss and retrieves the car key and the race starts while the two old men remain hurling charges of treason.


*Collected from the authoress by Md Ejaj Ahamed*