Arabella Is My Name! (Part Three)

- My brother is dead! I said to her in a faint voice.
- Your brother? No, No, that is not true dear!
- They told me so at the school few minutes ago.
- What school dear?
- This school!
- There is no school here. Are you ok dear?

I looked at the face of the old woman wondering what she was talking about and why she cannot see our school behind me! I looked back at our school trying to point out to her the yellow building just behind us, but, strangely enough, I could not see anything there.

- You probably lost direction as you walked a long way!
- No, that is not possible. I haven't moved an inch from our school gate!

I replied back, while I was trying hard to control myself from crying again.

- If I am not near my school, where am I then?
- This is Wishes Village.
- Wishes Village? Where?
- Yes, Wishes Village, villages like these could be anywhere!
- No, no it cannot be! This is impossible, I live in London.
- London? No dear. Nobody uses such a name here!

The only thing I can think of was that the old woman wasn't telling me the truth. That was why I turned away from her quickly and ran back to where I came from few minutes ago, believing somehow, that my school was still there! However, despite my effort trying to move away from her, I was still able to hear her clearly saying:

- You do not need to run. You can be anywhere you want to be, just by wishing.

Then I heard her with a different voice, as if she was speaking through me:

- Remember, you have lots of wishes, for you and for your dad. Use them now!

I kept running until I felt I have no more energy to move forward. Tiredness and pain in my leg, as well as shortness of breath, stopped me completely from running. I collapsed on the wet grass, staring at the grey darkening sky, with wide open eyes.

For few moments, there was a complete silence. Then I felt at peace and, somehow, I was fully content with my situation. It was like I had no more wishes or desires for anything. The only desire I had was to be left alone there. The feeling was overwhelming; I was not sure how to describe it. It was something like I was everything and, at the same time, I was nothing! I was aware of everything, yet, I could not utter a word! But this situation did not last long, as suddenly I heard a feminine voice calling my name repeatedly, and in a consistent demanding way. The voice was trying hard to wake me up immediately, even though it felt I was fully awake, all the time, when I was there!

- Arabella, Arabella - wake up wake up. Wakeup now, it is all over. Your operation was successful and you will be able to go home soon. Your dad, your brother and Christine are all here with you!

I looked up again trying to find the sky above me but there was only a grey ceiling with a faint light in the corner. My leg was hurting me and my mouth was sore and dry. There was a tube connected to my left arm and bandages covering my left leg and part of my right hand. I tried to talk but I could not find my voice. I tried to check if my dad was there but I could not bend my neck. Just as I was trying to close my eyes, I heard him saying:

- You will be fine dear, everything will be fine.

Then I heard Kevin whispering in my ear:

- Hey, I am the one who suppose to be in the hospital, not you!

So, was I really in the hospital and not Kevin? But why?

- Don't worry dear, you had a small accident as you were trying to cross the street, you will be fine. My dad whispered in my ear trying to assure me while he was holding my right hand.

I tried hard to talk to my dad, somehow, eventually and with great difficulty I managed to say to him:

- Where am I?
- In the hospital!
- No, I mean are we in a village?
- Village? No dear, you must have been dreaming!
- Where are we?
- Arabella, we are still in the same part of London were we always lived!
- So, the old lady who talked to me does not exist?
- Old lady?
- Yes, the old Scottish lady!

I heard my dad saying something to Kevin and to Christine then both of them left the room and then my dad said:

- It was all in the dream; we heard you talking while you were sleep. Kevin and Christine will come and see you again later on when you are feeling better; your friends from the school will be with them.

I wanted to forget everything, I wanted to sleep and wake up later at our home, not in the hospital. I looked at the ceiling again, I noticed the light was not there anymore. My father touched my head and kissed me on the cheek, then quietly left the room. The only question left inside my head was about Mrs. White, my English teacher. Did I really meet her with Christine, or was this also part of the hospital dream?

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Arabella Is My Name (Part Two)

- How about cats? Christine said in a softer voice as she bents towards me.

I did not reply. Then suddenly I heard the telephone ring. I rushed toward the phone to answer it:

- Hello...
- Is that Arabella?
- Yes...
- Hi Arabella, this is Mrs. White, your English teacher!

I was surprised and nervous when I heard Mrs. White's voice on the phone, she'd never phoned us before and I always felt uneasy when I am with her in the classroom, and even when I meet her unexpectedly in the school. Before I could say anything, I heard her saying:

- Is Christine there with you?
- Oh, yes.... yes!
- Can I have a word with her?

I waved to Christine, who was on the other side of the corridor, trying to attract her attention, at the same time I was panicking as I tried hard in my mind to figure out how my English teacher knew Christine, and why she was contacting her in our house?

Christine spoke on the phone with Mrs. White for few minutes and then turned round, before finishing her conversation with her, and said to me:

- We need to go to the school now!
- What!
- I am sorry but Mrs. White asked me to take you with me now.
- But I have finished with the school for today and I did not miss any lesson!

Christine just smiled and ended her conversation on the phone with Mrs. White then she moved towards me and holds my hand and said:

- I wish I knew why they want you to go back there now; Mrs. White did not tell me what is this all about!
- I am not going back now, I am too tired! I replied back with an angry voice.

Christine said nothing but moved towards the phone and while pointing towards it, she said in a motherly voice:

- Well, if you are not happy going back with me to the school, then you should phone and tell your dad about it.

I was not sure what to say when I heard Christine mentioning my dad. In fact I stayed silent for a while worrying a bit that she may contact him herself if I did not do it!

- There is no need to contact my dad. We can go to the school now, if you wish.
- That is good. Let us go then, they are waiting for us.

It was getting dark as we were leaving the house, even though the time was just after 4.00 pm, but this is how the sun disappears so quickly, during December, in this country. As I approached the street running, trying to avoid Christine, a fast car passed in front of me, like a flash of light. I stood still thinking what was happening. I crossed the road running faster and leaving Christine behind on the other side of the road.

I was cold and hungry but I kept silent all the way to the school.

- Thank you for coming. I am glad you made it on time! Mrs. White said as we entered her office.
- I think Arabella would like to know why she was asked to come here. Christian said while shaking Mrs. White hand.
- Of course, after all, this meeting was arranged especially for her! Mrs. White replied enthusiastically while approaching her desk.

I could not believe what I was hearing! This meeting was arranged especially for me? Did I win the school top prize? Am I the best pupil in the school? Or suddenly they have just realised that there is something very special about Arabella?! Huh!

- Sit down, dear! Mrs. White said to me, as if she knew what was going inside my head at that moment.

- Your brother was at the top of his class last year and the year before, in fact his achievements were always at the top since he joined this school. This year his achievements were even better! No pupil in this school, since its establishment more than twenty years ago, has ever had a pupil with this kind of success and high grades. Simply he was a genius child! We will miss him, I pray for his spirit to rest in peace!

- What are you talking about! What do you mean pray for his spirit to rest in peace? Kevin is with my dad now and not in the spirit world! This is utterly crazy talking about my brother in this manner!

I realised that I was shouting at Mrs. White in anger. I ran out of her office crying. Christine ran after me.

- Arabella, wait. Please wait for me. Christine kept calling my name and begging me to wait for her but I could not stop running! How can I stop when
they tell me that my brother is dead?

I managed to reach the school gate while continuously rubbing my eyes trying to remove my tears. I looked around to see if Christine was still following me, but no one was there. At that moment I did not know what to do, whether I should go home or go back to the school! The only thing I knew was that I was cold and shivering and the sky getting grey and darker over my head.

- Are you ok dear?

I heard the voice of an old woman passing by with Scottish accent. I did not reply immediately to her, as I felt a strong desire to cry loudly but I couldn't. The old woman came close to me and started to touch my hair.

Najib Altawell

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Arabella Is My Name! (Part One)

I had a feeling that my dad was worried about me. Not sure why I felt this way! Well, maybe he was concerned about my health or maybe it was something else, I wasn't really sure! The fact that I wasn't sick nor had any problem puzzled me as to why he was worried most of the time!

That night I went to bed thinking a lot about my dad. Why and why he was behaving in this way? The next day I was determined to ask him and find out what was wrong. For this reason, as soon as he arrived back home from work, I rushed toward him and said:

- Dad, you must tell me what is wrong! I mean why you are worried about my health? You know that there is nothing wrong with me!

With a face full of surprise and amazement's, my dad said while he was looking with two eyes wide opened and fixed at me:

- Who told you that?
- No one a...

Before I could finish what I wanted to say, my dad interrupted me saying:

- It is the health of your brother I am worried about!
- My brother?
- Yes, your brother!

My dad stopped for a little while, as if he was trying to catch up his breath, then he said, while intentionally lowering the tone of his voice:

- You remember when I took your brother to the doctor last week?
- Of course I remember, how can I forget when we had to wait almost two hours in the surgery and miss our favourite TV programme!
- Kevin is your brother, your only brother and your missed favourite programme will be repeated next Friday.....you know that! The doctor said to me that your brother needs to go to the hospital for an operation.

I felt sad and guilty. I tried to apologise but my dad left the room very quickly. I always had a lot of good and happy wishes in my heart, especially for my dad. I became very close to my dad after my mother died two years ago. That was why I didn't like to see him worried or upset the way he was, especially that day!

Two days later, my dad was packing few things inside a small case for my brother. Things Kevin may need while he was staying in the hospital. As we were just about to leave the house, my dad said to me:

- Kevin needs to stay in the hospital for about one week or maybe a little longer! Consequently, I need to spend most of my time after work at the hospital. For this reason, I need to ask someone to stay in the house with you when I am not here.
- But dad, I am not a baby! I can look after myself very well; after all, I am twelve years old!
- I know you can look after yourself, but what if I have to stay late or I could not come home from the hospital for one reason or another, you would not like it to sleep alone in this house during the night, would you?! Remember, you are still underage and it is illegal to leave children on their own, no matter what!
- I can come and stay with you in the hospital. In any case, I want to see Kevin there as well!

My dad looked at his watch and started moving toward the front door while he was saying:

- What about your school home work, and your private lessons? What are you going to do about them if you decided to come with me to the hospital?

Well, I completely forgot about these things, but is there a way out of this embarrassing situation! At my age, a baby sitter wants to look after me? No matter what title my dad would give her to make me feel better, I could not accept this!

I followed my dad to the car. Kevin was already there sitting at the back seat quietly looking through the car window at the boy next door.

- Are you OK? I said to Kevin, but he did not reply.

Then my dad said while starting the car engine:

- We need to hurry up. Don't forget to put on your seat-belt.

The following day my dad was waiting for me with a woman standing beside him near the school gate. I never met this woman before and did not understand why she was with him! She looked rather young, maybe six years, or less, older than me!
My dad looked at me smiling and moved forward as he spoke:

- Arabella, I want you to meet Christine; she will look after you until Kevin leaves the hospital.

Christine extended her hand towards me but I pretended I wasn't looking.

- Aren't you going to shake my hand? Christine said smiling.

Then I heard my dad saying:

- Shake hands with Christine. I need to go back to the hospital right now. Be good and don't forget to do your homework.

Christine tried her best to start a conversation between us but I decided to stay quiet as we walked together back home. Then just as we entered the house, I heard Christine saying:

- Do you like dogs?
- I hate dogs.

Actually, I love dogs, but I did not want to talk to Christine, or so-called Arabella's new babysitter!

Najib Altawell

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