Laughables

[WitchQueen]

(I would like to change something in the story. First of all I would like for Shiek Ahmed's horse to be Moon Dancer and also I would like you to know that Ahmed himself is Excaliber now. This means he is a brave man with a special Sword. He fights Evil.)

Ishtar is cleaning up the kitchen. She has been canning fruits and vegetaqbles all day with the help of Tezia. She uses glass jars for this with rubber seals so that the food will not spoil. The food and the jars must be boiled slowly to sterilize them and keep them safe. Ishtar had to do this with some of the remedies also.

She does not know that Ahmed is outside of the Palace on the front slate patio.

Ahmed watches the boys walk down the road toward Najaf. (I do not remember exactly what Najaf's name is. I do not remember if it is Najaf or Najat. I think that it is Najat. At this time Ahmed feels somewhat better and he is ready to go into the Palace to see Ishtar. He opens the door to the entranceway and walks in. Ishtar is in the dining room having some tea. She thinks to open door is from the boys. Ahmed walks around the dining room table and faces her. "Ahmed, I am so happy to see that you have returned. We have all missed you." Ahmed kisses Ishtar on the cheek and tells her that for now, all is well. "Would you like some food Ahmed?" "No" he replies. " I will just have some tea and some bread with jelly." Ishtar gets up and prepared the tea and the bread.

Ahmed wants to know what she has been doing while he has been gone. "I have prepared some jars of different remedies from the formulas in the book I discovered on Carpathia in the Library. I hope that they work. I talked with the doctor at the clinic about them and I let him read the book. He asked about the Druids and I explained to him that they are on the planet of Argos. I explained to him how the bite to the throat of a Druid causes on to have their spirit die forever. He said that he would use those particular potions. If a person has not yet died from the bite of the Druid the potion is said to cure them but if the bite kills them immediately then they cannot be brought back to life."

"What else have you done?" asks Ahmed. "I spend time with the children and tell them stories that I hope have some meaning. We have also spent time with the Watanis and Chief Maboto. He is preparing to go to Oblikan and extract some venom from some of the Giant Red Spiders. The Chief will be taking Cuoto and some of the men. Ibrahim and the other two boys would also like to make the journey with the Chief and Cuoto." "I have also planned a trip to the Art Gallery with the older children, Malika and Salma. It is Menske, who told me to go to the Art Gallery and study the paintings. He said that some of them are very old and show hidden things on Xanthia. He told me I should study them. He also told me to keep the Gold Coins I have with me at all times. He said that no one could take them from me. Only I could use them." Ahmed tells Ishtar that this interests him and he would like her to do what Menske has told her. "Study the paintings carefully and see if you notice anything familiar."

"I want you to go with Salma and Malika and leave the younger children here with Nadia. She can watch them. That is part of her job. Also I want the older boys to go with the Chief to Oblikan. Ibrahim has powers and the Chief is a clever person" "One more thing, you can take Tezia with you to the Gallery."

Neeta and Abaka have been playing in the sitting room and Ishtar lite the fire herself. "How are they doing?" asks Ahmed. Ishtar tells him that they seem to be happy here and that they like Tartufe very much. "How is Tartufe?" asks Ahmed. "He is sweet. He does like to chase the birds thought.""I must go out to the stable and check on Moon Dancer. I turned him over to Cassem before I came into the Palace but I want to check on him myself. And one more thing, the boys have gone down to Najaf to get their horses so they will probably be gone for awhile. I'll be outside with Cassem ofr awhile so you do not have to wait up for me. I will wake you when I come to bed. I am really tired, Ishtar. I have much on my mind. We will talk later." Ahmed lets Tartufe outside with him and the cat follows Ahmed to the stable.

WitchQueen

[freemocy]

It is Najaf

[WitchQueen]

I assume that by Najaf, you mean the guy on Moroccodiscussions.com I put some of them from there into the story also and Najaf is one of them. So is Anarcist, Sidi, Brahimi and Casawila. I think that is how you spell her name. Then I named the village after a town in Iraq. I thought that that was Najaf. When I get a chance I will look up the joke about the insect and get his name. I think that the town in Iraq is called Najaf and he is called Najat. I'll try to check it out. Thanks for the help Freemoncy but I didnot quite understand what you meant.

(Now about the story I want to fix the names of the horses. Ahmed's horse is MoonDancer, Ibrahim's horse is called MidnightStar, Amman's horse is called Bandito, and Karif's horse is called SunCatcher. And then Najat's horse is called SilverMist. I decided to use "The Bee" somewhere else in the story.)

(And also from here on I will refere to the portholes sometimes as passageways to other dimemsions. From one dimensions to another.)

Ahmed is speaking with Cassem in the stable. They are tending to MoonDancer. Actually Cassem was doing this for Ahmed right after Ahmed brought the horse to the stable. Cassem is a trusted worker and Ahmed has decided to give him as much information about what has been going on of late. Ahmed tells him, "I think it is best if I have a briefing with the newspaper reportors day after tomorrow. Tomorrow I will announce this on the short wave radios. All of the newspaper offices have radios here on Oman." "I think this will be a good idea as it will let everyone propare plans of defense."

Ahmed changes the subject and asks how the mine is doing. Many of the people have shares in the various mines. If the mine comes in the owner has wealth. The money also belongs to the government and with that they finance building projects. The province with the Saudis is building a new city with a Great Mosque. The Mosque that was just constructed in Masra has just been completed. Ahmed made a large donation to the construction of this Mosque. (you can name the Mosque) Since tomorrow is Friday and it is Prayer Day Ahmed has decided to go to this Mospue for prayers. Ahmed has changed his mind and he will be giving the briefing to the newspapers reporters on the day of Tuesday at the Council Building.

Ishtar has gotten the younger children ready for bed. Neeta has her doll and Abaka has a toy horse. Ishtar would like to take the children to the city to the Art Gallery but the play they will be seeing is called Dracula and Adonis has a new star called the DigitalVampirE or so he likes to be called for this particular production. She has heard the play is very good and Salma helped with the direction. Still it reminds her of the Druids. Ishtar will take the children to see the "Wizard of Baghdad" at another time. She spoke with Salma on the phone and Salma says that Malik is very funny.

Ishtar has cleaned everything up and she wants to take her shower and go to bed. She has many questions for Ahmed and she wants to tell him where all the bottles of potions are. The potions are a last resort as they have been untested. She closes her eyes for awhile and prays for help with this situation.

Ahmed comes in about two hours later and finally he is happy to be home. Ahmed is happy to be with Ishtar and they are awake for most of the night.

WitchQueen

[freemocy]

Sorry , i just want to stress the fact that "Najat" is a female name..

[WitchQueen]

[color="DarkOliveGreen"](I shall have to use the name Najat for the village and Najaf for the guy in the story. I do not know who was on Moroccodiscussions. A male or a female. Thanks for the information.)

Ahmed is up early in the morning. It is about four o'clock. He wakes Ishtar and tells her it is time to get ready to go to Masra. They will skip breakfast and have something to eat when they reach to city. Next Ahmed awakes the boys and tells them to dress and saddle their horses.


Now everyone is up and dressed for the journey to the city. Ahmed and Ishtar, the younger children and Tezia will ride in the wagon. Cassem will drive the wagon and Nadia will accompany them so that she can bring the younger children back to the Palace. The boys will follow the wagon on horseback. They are excited about the trip to Masra. Ishtar has made the beds and tidied the Palace some what. She does not like things messy or unorganized.

The journey takes about one and one half hours to reach Masra. They have brought bottles of water for the trip and dish for the horses that they place on the back of the wagon so that they can drink. Ibrahim, Karif and Amman will leave the horses with the blacksmith when they reach the city. The blacksmith rents stalls for travelers.

They made good time and now they have reached the city. Ahmed is happy. They ride straight to the new Mosque to see how it is. The Mosque is in the center of the city. It is made of pearly white tiles with gold ornament on the tiles and the dome is of Gold with the Gold Crescent Moon on the top. There are four Minerets and they are also of white pearl tile. Also the Minerets have gold tops. There is a three foot wall around the Mosque and a brick patio outside. This Mosque means much to Ahmed as it is something that he really wanted to have done. Ahmed donated to the Mosque many times as well as some of the other people of Masra. This Mosque is truly impressive.

(Since I do not know what are the times of prayer I cannot explain when they will take place. I do know that the women's room is seperate from the men's and also I do not know about young people or children. Anyone reading this will know about the time of prayer and what the Imam might say. I think that prayer is in the afternoon.)

After Ahmed has viewed the Mosque they leave for the blacksmith barn and stable where the boy leave their horses to rest and then they all go to a Cafe a few blocks over. The Cafe belongs to Lacerne and he greets Ahmed and the family as they enter the Cafe. Ibrahim, Karaif and Amman sit at a table by them selves. Ahmed does sit at a table with Ishtar because he wants to talk with her but first he calls Omar. "Hello, Omar, it is I, Ahmed. How are you." "Everyone is fine here. Where are you?" "I am here in Masra and I came to go to the new Mosque. Also I would like to stay for a few days. I must have a briefing with the reporters about the Druids. No sense in fooling around. We must be prepared. After we have breakfast here I will get on the short wave at the Training Camp and announce the meeting. I also was hoping to have a holiday and go to the Art Gallery and the Theatre to see Dracula. I was wondering if you would like to join us. Tezia will be with us. The boys will be joing us. The younger two children will be going back with Nadia and Cassem." Omar tells Ahmed that he will meet him at the Training Camp and also tells him that Salma and he would like to go to the Art Gallery with them tomorrow." "This is good," says Ahmed."We will meet later today. The boys will not be going to the Art Gallery because they must get ready for their trip to Oblkan to hunt for the Giant Red Spiders. I think that I better make the trip with them because Bruckos and the other four Druids are on the loose. I do not know what happened to the five other prisoners. No one on Oblkan has heard from them as of yet. I will go for now . We want to check into a Hotel." Breakfast was now finished and everyone left fot the Hotel. The boys were not really interested in going to the Art Gallery although the Theatre sounded interesting. Ahmed tells them that he thinks they should go to the Art Gallery to familiar themselves with some of the areas of Xanthia. There is even art work on Oblikan. "Your trip to search for the Giant Red Spider can wait. We need some free time and I would like to see Omar and Salma.

The Hotel is called the Gallery Hotel as it is near the Art Gallery. This is a large Hotel and it is very elaborate. Ahmed checks in and gets a room for himself and Ishtar with an ajoining room for Tezia. Then the boys have a room to then selves acroos the hall. They all brought clothes with them just in case. The rooms are very nice and they spend some time there. Now it is time to go to Mosque. (You name it.) After Mosque Prayers, Ahmed and Cassem go to the Training Camp. The boys travel with them in the wagon. At the Camp, Ahmed puts out an alert that there will be a briefing about the situation with the Druids. The meeting will take place at 6o'clock.

Ishtar, Tezia and Nadia have decided to take Neeta and Abaka to the nearby zoo. Many of the animals are exotic. They even have to charcoal colored elephant. They also have some of the white baboons.

WitchQueen

[freemocy]

You are right there exits a city in Iraq named Najaf , but what is not correct giving a female name to a person supposed to be a male..The guy should be called Najib instead if you want

[WitchQueen]

[color="DarkOliveGreen"]Well maybe the person from Moroccodiscussions.com really is a female. After all at one time I thought Aswad was a he and then I found out Aswad is a she.

Another change I wish to make is to have Lazzhar (excuse the spelling.) be the leader of the Training Camp at Addas instead of Iceman. I will use Iceman in another part of the story. Also I wish the city of Kampala to be on the continent of Kruata with the Africans so I have decided to call the city of Kampala, Agean instead. (At least until I can think of a better name.)

Ishtar is at the zoo with Tezia and the younger children and Nadia. Cassem is also with them and he is like a bodyguard. All of them are enjoying them selves with looking around at the animals. They also go into the botanical gardens and the green houses. There are many flowers in bloom and there are some vegetables growing in the green houses. Ishtar names the plants that she knows from when she was on Earth but she sees that they are named different on the lables at the end of tables.

All this while, Ahmed has arrived at the Training Camp where the briefing is to be held. It is about two o'clock. Omar has arrived and they go over the report to be given on the short wave. All of the newspaper offices have the short waves. And now it is time for Ahmed to go on. "Attention, attention. This is Ahmed Akima speaking to you from Masra Training Camp. This afternoon at five o'clock there will be a press conference to be given here in Masra at the Training Camp. I would appreciate it if all newspapers would send their reporters of their choice to cover the interview. After the briefing, questions will be answered by Omar Hayek and myself. I know the journey is far on such short of a time but I must stress this is of the upmost importance.
All citizens wondering about this report will gather their information from the newspapers. All of the Army will be briefed by their superiors at the various camps. Reporters from Quetta and Oblikan will be welcome also. With that I will now close."

"How was that Omar?" "That was good Ahmed. What shall we do for now?" Ahmed replied that they should go over the charts of the portals and speak with all of the men in the camp. "Let us review with them. We still have two hours actually maybe until five thirty.

Ishtar and the children are now going back to the Gallery Hotel. "Cassem, Ahmed has said we should have dinner without him and I will join him for dinner later in the evening, so why don't we go bace to Larache's(check spelling) Cafe and have dinner there. It is close by." "Alright Ishtar that is a good idea." And so they go to the Cafe. Nadia is like a house keeper governess. They are all sitting at a round table and order stew. For dessert they all have bread pudding with raisens in it. Ishtar does not have a dinner. She just has iced tea and a toasted muffin. The younger children are three years old and they are really enjoying themselves with this outing.

"Neeta and Abaka, tomorrow morning you will riding back to the Palace with Nadia and Cassem. Tartufe has been staying in the barn while we are away and he will want to be out in the garden and come back into the house from time to time. I hope that Sidi and Brahimi and Ahlam patroled the Palace and checked on the animals." Cassem tells Ishtar that they are professionals and they will do what they are supposed to. "You know how important it is to patrol and Ahmed asked a favor of them to check on the horses. Have faith Ishtar."

Ishtar felt stupid with her question. She knows that they are brave mujahadeen.

Ahmed is about to start the briefing. There are about thirty-five reporters present. They have come from the five large cities and some of the larger villages. All of the villages have at least one newspaper.

Ahmed starts. He explains the situation with the Druids and some of the history of Oblikan. He goes on to tell them about the escape of Bruckos and the other four Druids. He explains about the five other prisoners. He also tells of the other portals but he does not tell where they are. This is confidential information. After the meeting there is a question and answer session for about one half of an hour and then the meeting comes to a close.

"The meeting went well,"says Ahmed. "Now you, Omar will have to go to Addas and brief the men and I will speak with Anarcist again. But for tomorrow I want a holiday while it is still peaceful. Anarcist is in charge for the time being and he is very capable. He has Freemoncy, Pharess and Razrif to help him. For now I am going back to the Hotel.

WitchQueen