82

watering

From Republic Street, first Faisal

Between Sharif and Saudi Al-Sanadili Streets

Corona time, fireworks and firecrackers

and drugs

watering

God compensates.. God compensates.. Awad al-Saqqa’s voice raises to alert the women of the paths of the gypsies of Tal al-Baili in the hearts of their tents.

Awad orders his stallion to sit on his four knees, and he obeys his order.

  The waterskin removes the twenty waterskins carried on both sides of the camel's back, takes one of them to lift it on his shoulder, and heads to the first tent.

The owner of the tent raises the lid of the container, and instead of the mouth of the waterskin, he puts it in his heart until he empties his first waterskin, so that he can bring the second and the third until it is full, when it is the turn of the next tent.

Awad prepares the diaries of the tents of the neighborhood tribe, which is close to fifty tents for the gypsy children of Aleppo, so the two hundred water bags are tied today, after he empties from filling the vessels of the sheikhs. Usually, their water share is three times higher than the gypsy milking children. The daily tent of the neighborhood sheikh has twelve skins, as well as the tent of the assistant sheikh of the neighborhood, the sheikh of the police station, and notables from the owners of the empty desert and the guards.. The number of the elite close to one hundred and eighty skins. To the shade to rest his stallion, Abu Saree’, and put food for him until the lunch shift begins every afternoon at the waterskin, which ends with sunset, so he falls from exhaustion with his stallion, who eats the lunch meal and continues his work in the evening shift, which ends after dinner every day.

Awad goes to the well of the only fresh water in the neighborhood of Tal Aleppo al-Akriya. Ghajar fills his bag and leaves the stallion's rope to close his eyes. He sits on the back of the patient Abu Sare'i and sleeps. Abu Sare'i continues his walk to settle in front of Awad's tent. And his life is more important to him, as Awad says.. Sayed worked with Awad, his father, after the departure of his wife, named him Al-Hawkash Al-Haffar.

Awad offered his son to marry any of the girls in the neighborhood, even if she was the daughter of Mohammedin, the oldest guard in the neighborhood to tie him to his land, but Sayed had made up his mind and made his decision to leave the narrow neighborhood for the vast urban areas, and he would work in all the professions that he was good at and he used to work in them in the Al-Ekriyeh neighborhood Such as blacksmithing and carpentry, and cities will open their farms for him because of his skill in these professions.

Sayyed Walad Awad al-Saqqa traveled years ago, and no news came of him, so there was no news of him until Awad was about to lose hope that his son would return to the neighborhood. The tent, and he came down from the back of his stallion, and the two went to sleep, to continue their work at dawn tomorrow.

  A short story written by / Mahmoud Hassan Farghaly

Member of the Writers Union

Member of the Syndicate of Film Professions

mahmoudhassanfarghaly@gmail.com

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