Aziz
awoke covered in sweat. The strange dream had passed, but what did it mean? The
hot Indian weather had made his stay rather uncomfortable, and the prison guard’s
foolish babbling made the stay even worse.
“This heat is
terrible! I haven’t felt heat this bad since my tour in Africa. Have I ever told
you about my tour in Africa?”
“No and I could care less about your pointless story.”
“Ha, you wouldn’t believe
the heroic deeds I preformed in the service of the queen. In fact, I have an
entire room devoted to my military exploits.”
Aziz doubted that the guard had done anything of importance
in his entire life, let alone anything in Africa. However, sheer boredom drove
Aziz to encourage the guards rant.
“Ah! I see you’ve found an interest in my military career.
Hmm, where to start…”
The guard paused a few moments in order to gather his
thoughts.
“Well, I should probably start from the beginning. When my
father died, I was forced to find a way to provide for my seven younger sisters…”
Normally Aziz would be annoyed by such obvious embellishment,
but today he found strange enjoyment in the guard’s tall tale. He found what
some might consider an advanced literary style in the guard’s storytelling,
like that of John Smith and his tales of the new world, or like the long
standing oral traditions found across the globe. Maybe his opinion was
distorted because of the amount of time he had spent alone in a cell, but the
story was grand none the less.
“…and after I saved my squad from a pack of lions, I was
Invited to be knighted by the Queen herself, but I declined because I didn’t feel
worthy of such recognition.”
“You seem to have done many great deeds in your life.”
“Indeed I have, and maybe you’ll do great things one day
too.”
Aziz was surprised at this comment.
