The Ambassador of Disasters: Part One

By Yasser Abdulaziz Al-Orainan

I have always been impressed by formal forums, protocols, international representation, and official states’ uniforms. I have full conviction that every culture has the right to be represented and to have its message conveyed across the globe. I believe that the best representation of any country is the person who full-heartedly wishes to do so, with complete devotion and love of what they do. Their only motive is their pride in their country, their belief in their message, and their comprehension of the importance of such duty. Consequently, my spontaneous answer was, as you would have predicted, that I will become an ambassador. Silence enveloped the place, and then shortly, was followed by whispers and mutters. Students’ loud laughter prevailed in the place, giving the impression that they have full knowledge, based on comprehensive and extensive research studies about all the obstacles that may prevent me from achieving my ambition or its requirements, and about the impossibility of achieving my dream. Anyone who sees them would think that they already know the unseen, and are certain of the impossibility of achieving this dream and its requirements. I was under the impression that I told them that I aspire to solely make my own spaceship and travel through galaxies or to travel through time somehow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Aug 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9789948346814

Yasser Abdulaziz Al-Orainan

Yasser Abdulaziz Al-Orainan is a Saudi living in Jeddah and a holder of B.Sc. in Geophysics. He has published a book of poetry entitled Wish Memories Died.

Book preview

Scene

About the Author

Yasser Abdulaziz Al-Orainan is a Saudi living in Jeddah and a holder of B.Sc. in Geophysics. He has published a book of poetry entitled Wish Memories Died.

Dedication

This is to the memory of my two mothers, and I pray to God to gather us in Paradise. I dedicate this book to my two fathers, and ask God to always keep them healthy and well, and grant them long lives. To my two sisters, may God grant you success and eternal bliss. I dedicate this book to that unending source of emotional support, the one who has given me the happiest moments of my life and has been so generous to me: my only aunt. I would not forget Omar Osama, all my family members, friends, and all those I have been lucky to know in such a way as to make me mention them in the course of my novel.

Finally, this novel is dedicated to all peace ambassadors worldwide who have chosen it from among all the books on the shelves to give it a share of their time, alone or with families. I wish it will be as good and appealing as you expect.

Copyright Information ©

Yasser Abdulaziz Al-Orainan (2020)

The right of Yasser Abdulaziz Al-Orainan to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with Federal Law No. (7) of UAE, Year 2002, Concerning Copyrights and Neighboring Rights.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to legal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The age category suitable for the books’ contents has been classified and defined in accordance to the Age Classification System issued by the National Media Council.

ISBN – 9789948346807– (Paperback)

ISBN – 9789948346814 – (E-Book)

Application Number: MC-10-01-8022991

Age Classification: 13+

First Published (2020)

AUSTIN MACAULEY PUBLISHERS FZE

Sharjah Publishing City

P.O Box [519201]

Sharjah, UAE

www.austinmacauley.ae

[phone]

Acknowledgment

I would like to extend special thanks to Austin Macauley Publishers for their care and translation of the novel for worldwide distribution.

Introduction

I have always been impressed by formal forums, protocols, international representation, and official states’ uniforms. I have full conviction that every culture has the right to be represented and to have its message conveyed across the globe. I believe that the best representation of any country is the person who full-heartedly wishes to do so, with complete devotion and love of what they do. Their only motive is their pride in their country, their belief in their message, and their comprehension of the importance of such duty. Consequently, my spontaneous answer was, as you would have predicted, that I will become an ambassador. Silence enveloped the place, and then shortly, was followed by whispers and mutters. Students’ loud laughter prevailed in the place, giving the impression that they have full knowledge, based on comprehensive and extensive research studies about all the obstacles that may prevent me from achieving my ambition or its requirements, and about the impossibility of achieving my dream. Anyone who sees them would think that they already know the unseen, and are certain of the impossibility of achieving this dream and its requirements. I was under the impression that I told them that I aspire to solely make my own spaceship and travel through galaxies or to travel through time somehow.

First Chapter

The Good Fortune and the Choice

First Scene

In the evening of one of the most monotonous days, I hastily dressed up, as usual, and headed to my regular routine job. If it were not for my route, which passes by this coffeehouse making perfect coffee, I would have forgotten the meaning of hastiness like I have gradually forgotten many pillars of success. This is normal for those who perform jobs dominated by repetition, without the slightest reason to break the routine or to pump new blood in the work activities for a long period of time. Adding to this, the absence of one’s convection and love for their work, unless this work conforms to their ambitions and future goals.

Ultimately, this leads to a resounding disappointment that may destroy the life features in a person’s face. They may breathe, walk among people, socialize with them, and fake their laughter as if they got what they wished for, then return to do their work in a way or another, to its fullest, until it exceeds the limits of perfection, so that they would be a role model in their career path. Yet, their face is lifeless.

If I had a foreknowledge of what was waiting for me at the coffeehouse that day, my usual heavy footsteps toward the unknown, yet so anticipated future, where my low capacities cannot build any dream regardless of the challenges of reality, would have been accelerated toward a situation that has reconstituted my thoughts, and reestablished my concepts of life.

I still remember my childhood friends giving the same inherited, intergenerational set of answers, in the same classrooms, when they were asked at their early grades about their career dreams and where do they see themselves in the future. The educational purpose of this question is to kindle the spirit of ambition and to urge children to make efforts to achieve their goals. However, the teacher’s tone of voice, style, and purpose of asking this question may have an opposite effect on children. In the simplest situations, it will lead them to borrow another child’s answer, which they inherited from older students, and will, by extension, be inherited after them by younger children, without the slightest consideration of the importance of their answers, or the slightest comprehension of the requirements they need to achieve this goal. You can imagine the answers to the question irresponsibly asked in a defiant tone of voice by teachers. Children’s answers ranged, depending on their limit of dreams and their educational capacities, from being a teacher, to being a pilot.

I have always been impressed by formal forums, protocols, international representation, and states’ uniforms. I have full conviction that every culture has the right to be represented and to have its message conveyed across the globe. I believe that the best representation of any country is the person who full-heartedly wishes to do so, with complete devotion and love of what they do. Their only motive is their pride on their country, their belief in their message, and their comprehension of the importance of such duty. Consequently, my spontaneous answer was, as you would have predicted, that I will become an ambassador. Silence enveloped the place, and then shortly was followed by whispers and mutters. Student’s loud laughter prevailed in the place, giving the impression that they have full knowledge, based on comprehensive and extensive research studies, about all the obstacles that may prevent me from achieving my ambition or its requirements, and about the impossibility of achieving my dream. Anyone who sees them would think that they already know the unseen, and are certain of the impossibility of achieving this dream and its requirements. I was under the impression that I told them that I aspire to solely make my own spaceship and travel through galaxies, or to travel through time somehow.

In fact, and as usual, many of them have never encountered or heard the word, ‘ambassador.’ That is because of their young age, and their lack of knowledge, in addition to their incomprehension of the job nature, duties, and details of an ambassador. I believe that the reaction of students to my honest and spontaneous answer was out of fear. They might fear that they would differ with the trend of the group. So, in case of the answer being funny, they would quickly imitate the group just to be in conformity with them. Or they might fear that the inherited chain of answers would be broken which would ultimately cost them to exert mental efforts to do hard brainstorming, and to seriously think of reaching real and exclusive career ambitions that have not been, at least, achieved in the previous generations.

Another childhood dream vanished like a mirage when you come close to it. Yet, ‘maybe there is hidden wisdom behind that.’ This sentence, despite its simplicity and clarity, has limitless hidden prospects. People may vary in perceiving its meaning and content, depending on their incisive observation of what happens around them, and on their ability to link the events of today to that of yesterday. It also depends on one’s ability to distinguish between the purpose and the mean, so that he could deduce the hidden wisdom behind situations, and to compare the results to his personal prior expectations. This would help him to develop and improve his life concepts, functions, and mechanism so that it can ultimately benefit him in the future, and can explain major situations that he encounters with age. The most fortunate people can see this wisdom in reality in a way that calls the simplest minds to stand before it to contemplate it, and to comprehend the clarity of the picture this situation draws, and to what extent the signs and indications were clear before his eyes! This is what actually happened to me at the coffeehouse. Life taught me in the hard way, another lesson in its chapters.

Second Scene

I left my house heading to my work, accompanied by my disappointment and despair concerning my future. It was before midnight, which is normal for those who work in the field of observing, studying, and reporting natural phenomena, so that an early warning would be launched to help in saving a lot of souls. Naturally, this kind of work depends on shifts system which requires great efforts to maintain family ties on one hand, and to fight off social isolation on the other hand. I have experienced this personally, when I go through the hardship of saying goodbye to my family members who are just returning from their day jobs. I wait for them all day long just to spend few moments with them before I take off to my night job and return back home at dawn while they are asleep. Although I live with them, I know their news and life updates from social media. This represents a small image of one of the reasons why I cannot adapt this situation. This is besides the nature of my personality in respect of socialization.

I am still trying really hard to convince myself that there is hidden wisdom behind that, and that I still do not know it yet. This is until one day, while heading to my work, I stopped at the coffeehouse near my home to get my regular coffee from the drive-through window. While I was waiting, a dust-covered and rough-haired old man, with the looks of oppression on his face, knocked on my window. I thought that he was a beggar or a man who needed me to do him a favor. It never crossed my mind that we were destined to meet so that he could fulfill my needs. Once I opened the window to see what he wanted, he surprised me with a speech that felt like a resounding bullet that hits the body in a mortal spot and reaches the most distant parts of the soul to awaken it from its inattention. His brief and meaningful style and his accurate choice of words reflected his honesty, knowledge, and comprehension of what he said. Based on this, it is normal that his words have been engraved in my memory…

May Allah’s peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you! My name is Yasser Abdur-Rahman. I am a graduate of Umm Al-Qura University, department of Political Sciences. I love coffee, but I cannot afford it. I am still looking for a job. Would you please be kind to me, and give me a little sum of money so I can get some coffee?

He finished his question the same moment I received my coffee. So, I gave it to him with all respect and gratitude. I thanked him, then went on my way. After repeatedly reconsidering the situation, I regretted leaving the place in a hurry. People travelling through the lands are divided into categories; those who are escaping, those who are seeking, and those who have fallen down. I cannot hide the panic I felt. It was, so to speak, the main reason I escaped from the place. Because of the big resemblance between my circumstances and his, I feared that the situation would be reversed and I am the one who is knocking on car windows. And why not? Reality often, as it happened, goes beyond the limits of imagination.

I had no solace after my escape, except that I found my lost cause and that I figured out the wisdom behind my trials, after my memories flashed before my eyes like a sick man on his deathbed seeing his mistakes flashing before his eyes. Only then he realizes how huge his mistakes were. But in my case, my mistakes were my wishes and ambitions.

Not everything I did not desire have I been deprived from its fruit.

And not everything I desire is worth wishing for.

I have always admired this wise saying of Abul-’Atahiyah, and admired the deep meaning, wisdom, and sincerity in this particular verse. After I said goodbye to my less fortunate friend, this verse came to my attention, not because I already know it like other verses of Arab poems, but because I have touched in this verse other different aspects that reflect reality. It captioned eight years of my life. It is so strange how a person does not pay attention to his lost cause while searching for it. He keeps on missing it, while it repeatedly appears before his eyes, until it flagrantly surprises him with no prior warning, the same as it happened to me.

He has a name like me. He has a father like me. He likes the same coffee from the same place as me. He went through the path I wished to have gone through. It looked like me in a parallel world to mine. The danger of the two worlds intersect is no less than the consequences of our meeting. What prevents us from walking through each other’s path? This is the simplest outcome weaved by imagination. However, it will hardly reach the lowest degree of reality surprises. He would become the one heading to work, and I would be the one searching for a job and waiting for the moment when my world intersects with another parallel world, where I would be the one who asks him for a sum of money to order my favorite coffee.

My mental consumption has gone beyond its limits. Absolute silence overtook me; silence that is not familiar for those who know my deepest secrets, despite my discreet nature. It possessed me for three consecutive days, until this morning; the morning of the fourth day. I grabbed a piece of paper and an old pen which I abandoned almost a year ago after my last collection of poems book. Its intermittent ink, when I wrote my first sentence, was like its way of blaming me for abandoning it for that long. I feared that it would completely withhold its ink because of its great disappointment in me. Or it would suffocate in its tears and I would lose it for the rest of my life. It is a generous pen and a loyal friend that still understands me and knows what dwells in my heart and shares with the journey of revealing it. Here, it came back to me quickly, flooding me with its ink when I wrote my second sentence, serving as the most beautiful example of the lionhearted tolerance.

My long silence must be broken in a way or another. Some situations have to be written down so that they would be forgotten and have their page folded. Ever since the day I gave my friend my coffee and left the place escaping him and his destiny, my memories are still contentiously flashing before my eyes. I would not be exaggerating if I said that my dreams in those three nights were overshadowed by my memories. Yes, they dominated my dreams. I hope that I would have the opportunity to talk about my dreams and how strange they are, not to mention, their truthfulness and the difficulty to be interpreted. But a dream remains a dream, the reality remains a hope, and the past remains a memory. My memories tape continues to run in my head. It isolated me from everything that matters to me. I did not notice that it postponed my obligations indefinitely.

The first scene in my memories tape begins with my graduation from high school with an excellent grade. It is a degree that represented the elite, especially for my colleagues and my peers who were subject to the system of cumulative and equivalent grades for the first time. Based on this degree, I had to make