Syria; thoughts on the Country's legitimate leader

Syria; thoughts on the Country's legitimate leader

fiction
edward w Pritchard

Author is interested in the personalities of the leadership of Syria and Iran and the way they look at the world. Obviously, we as Americans have little accurate information on this and have been conditioned to see such persons as enemies of the State, our State, and evil.

Here' something I wrote before without much research, only hearing that Syria's leader was studying medicine in Britain at the time of his Brother's unfortunate death.

big deck

fiction
edward w pritchard

Near the souk but not within the souk the lanes are narrow, not meant for large vehicles. Big deck is  a 1981 Ford stretch van, white with a sliding side door leading to four rows of uncomfortable seats. A very ugly carriage but she has supported me for thirty years as my taxi here in Damascus. This week, I have been using big deck as an ambulance during the uprising here in Damascus; being a poor man I have been forced by circumstance to charge my fellow citizens who are suffering terribly during the violence for my services and those of big deck as an ambulance.

At the hospital the chief surgeon ordered me to take one lone passenger to an outpatient clinic for recovery. It was an eight year old girl whose eyes have been hurt badly in an explosion and was temporarily blind. I am being paid to sit with her during the day until she can return to the hospital for further surgery on her eyes to restore her sight. I had a lot of trouble getting big deck and the girl through the narrow alleys south of the souk here in Damascus. Of course adding to my troubles is the potential of violence caused by the uprising. Many commercial ambulances are reluctant to entering some of the areas of the violence and I have been making more money than usual. The chief surgeon at the hospital paid me three hundred Euros to transport the girl and has promised me another 700 Euros when I return with her in three to four days.

The clinic where I brought the girl is for wealthy patients recovering from surgery in normal times. Now the clinic is mostly empty, because of the violence there is little elective surgery being performed. The little girl is nearly alone here and all of the other patients are adults. To keep her company and myself busy, for I am being paid to sit with her, I have been reading to her. The only book for a child I could find here was an American story for girls, Nancy Drew " The Bungalow Mystery". My English is now poor although I attended University in New Jersey over fifty years ago.

I continued with my reading. I had to be careful. Although the girl's eyes were heavily bandaged like all children she knew when I was skipping parts of the novel and she would call me on it. As she was ill I did not want to upset her so I read carefully. [ he reads aloud to the blind girl]

The unexpected prow--ler

"An embezzlement case! Nancy was excited. What she wondered,"

I stopped suddenly for in my concentration on the book I had not noticed our Syrian President enter the room.  He was standing next to me smiling and nodding at me. He had come to visit the little girl.

He asked me if he could read for a moment. Taking the little girl's hand our President continued the Nancy Drew story.

" what she wondered did her father want her to do."

Nodding very slightly to me our President put the book down and still holding the girls hand and talking softly to her now in our language he began to review her medical chart that he had apparently  carried into the room.

I watched our President intently as he read. He was a tall handsome regal man and I was very proud of him and proud to be a Syrian.  Gently placing his spare hand on the girl's face he looked at the skin around the bandages, touched at her neck, I think taking her pulse.

As quickly as he had entered the room our President handed me the book, bowed to me ever ever so slightly and exited the ward where the girl was laying.

I still remember that meeting in the hospital as one of the most important days of my life.

end

Nancy Drew
" The Bungalow Mystery"
quoted page 45[ chapter 5]
Book #3 of series
by Carolyn Keene