Fall Break

The past week we were free from school. Well, not totally. I spent many hours grading a huge pile of tests. It was nice to spread out the work though, so my weekdays are a bit more peaceful. 

I did the grading while we were at Naomi’s mom’s house. She was doing much better than she sounded on the phone, so that was nice to see. More test results this coming week, so we shall see how those turn out. 

Last night we had our first and possibly last guest stay with us from Airbnb. She was a great guest, and we enjoyed the time we spent together, but it still felt like an intrusion. I have made lots of progress on the chest though and even wrote a bit more of my novel. I figured it might be fun to stick a little excerpt in this blog from time to time, so here is something I just wrote:

Souleymane awoke with a start as an unusually colorful dream escaped from the grasp of his mind like a handful of sand slipping though fingers. The bright magentas, neon greens, and midnight blues wafted away though the desert air. The tapping on his shoulder that had awakened him continued, but before his eyes alighted on the nearby face, he noticed everything had grown darker and quieter. The mosque was dark and sealed tightly. Sounds of the city had all but disappeared. 

His eyes didn’t have to wander up very far to see the child standing at his side. The boy was only a head higher than Souleymane in his slumped, seated position. He pulled lightly on Souleymane’s shirt sleeve and repeated a few words in a whisper that Souleymane could not understand. Soon he did make out the French word manger, eat, and quickly realized that sleep had come before dinner. His stomach gave a slight rumble of approval as he chose to follow the boy through the sandy streets of the sleeping city. 

Before long, the crisp night air sharpened Souleymane’s senses and as he followed in silence his mind began to wonder where this angelic little boy had come from, why he wasn’t asleep like everyone else, and who would offer a meal to a stranger so late at night. The whole situation felt rather other-worldly, but perhaps pieces of his dream still lingered more closely than he imagined...