Mansor left the house complaining and grumbling. The match was about to start in ten minutes, but his mother asked him to buy fish for dinner. She told him that his father would be disappointed if she only served rice. Mansor reached the market and bought fish from the first shop.
While he was paying, a worker at the fish stall dropped a bucket full of fish nearby, staining Mansor’s kandora by mistake. Mansor lost his temper and yelled at the worker who kept apologizing and asking for forgiveness. Mansor ran to the washroom mumbling how he hated servants while trying to clean his clothes. He felt a movement behind him, raised his head to the mirror and saw the reflection of a man with a big head a donkey’s leg and lion’s paw standing behind him.
Mansor asked: “Who are you?”
The big headed man said: “I am Abu Ras, the Guardian of the Souq.”
Mansor asked: “What do you want from me?”
Abu Ras: “I saw what you did in my souk, you acted in a very unpleasant way.”
Mansor: “You mean the servant? He deserved that.”
Abu Ras: “You must go back to him and apologize!”
Mansor: “No way!”
Abu Ras: “Are you refusing?”
Mansor: “Yes, I will never apologize to a servant!”
Abu Ras said: “You have chosen your fate,” and he disappeared.
Mansor immediately dismissed what happened. He felt a harsh hot breeze as he opened the door and found himself in the middle of an old souq, built with wood and palm fronds.
Then he heard Abu Ras from the top of a shop saying: “You are going to work as a servant for a day before you are returned to your time.”
It was an unforgettable lesson for Mansor, who had to work hard and be at the mercy of rude unfeeling customers.
At the end of the day, Abu Ras returned and asked Mansor again, “Are you going to apologize to the servant?”
Mansor nodded as he said, “After a day in his shoes, I don’t think anyone deserves to be mistreated.”
With those words, Mansor found himself back in front of the fish souq with an appreciation for his life and all the people around him.
by Safeya Ahmed Thani Khalifa Ahmed AlRomaithi
