Tarek

This is something I wrote a few years back. Considering going someplace with it. Let me know what you think.


Birds singing, sun shining, and alarm clock ringing awoke me this morning. It seemed
like any other day, but in the pit of my stomach I knew today would be the day that would change
my life forever. My morning started out like any other. Got out of bed. Went to the bathroom.
Showered. Made  breakfast. Brushed my teeth. When I finished my morning routine there was
just enough time to catch the bus.

Once on the bus, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I wondered why today felt like it
would be a significant one. Johnny, my best friend for as long as I can remember, was there to lend an ear as I  told him of my strange inkling. After the uneventful bus ride I arrived at school. I walked through the halls expecting wonder and excitement to jump out at me from every corner… anticipating some momentous meeting with someone or something. However, this was not the case. I spent the entire day waiting for something special to transpire, even though this meant not paying attention in any of my classes. To my frustration, school was just as uneventful as the ride to school had been.

I boarded the bus with a certain eagerness about me, yearning to experience some sort of
life-altering event that my intuition whispered was on my horizon. After a lackluster ride home, I
was starting to question whether or not my gut feeling from this morning had any veracity to it.
Focusing on homework was proving to be quite the task as my mind was racing fast enough to be
in a marathon. Trying to clear my thoughts I picked up my guitar to play something, restlessly fingered the strings and put it away. Nothing seemed to get my mind of that surreal feeling from
this morning.

Mom and Dad got home late today, so our dinner consisted of food trying to pass itself
off as pizza. At dinner I said little because it felt silly to bring up my feelings from this morning,
not to mention how disappointed I was that nothing of importance had occurred. Luckily, Dad’s
presentation at work had gone quite well and he was talking a mile a minute. Mom had a normal,
but busy day at work. Between bites of the poor excuse for pizza she congratulated him.

Sighing inwardly at my let-down of a day I cleared the table and started on my other
chores. Thus far taking out the trash had been the most exciting aspect of my day. Mom asked me
to check the mail, and little did I know what was in store for me once I did. While at the mailbox
I went through the mail as I normally do. Bill. Bill. Junk. Bill. Junk. Then an envelope without a
postmark caught my eye. On the outside in fancy print it was addressed to me. I slid it in the
pocket of my tripp pants and gave the remainder of the mail to my parents.

It was a rare occasion for me to get mail except around the holidays, so I was excited to
see a letter addressed just to me. After running up the stairs I went to my room and opened the
letter. This is what it said…




Dearest Tarek,

What you will read in this letter will be hard to swallow at first…but in time you will understand why it had to be this way. I am writing you to tell you a little about your past in turn changing your future. Your parents were sworn to secrecy when they adopted you. I’m quite positive they have wanted to tell you for so long. I am your Mother. This has been the hardest thing I have ever done. I’ve wanted to make contact with you for years. You come from the beautiful country of Alzagnia. Not only is that where you were born, you are Alzagnian royalty. Your Father has recently passed away and you are the only male heir eligible for the throne. Let me explain why we had to give you up. Alzagnia was being attacked by Calzatta, a neighboring nation. Every time a potential heir was born they found a way to kill them. We had you in secrecy and hidden with a nice respectable family. I know this is short notice, Tarek. Your country needs you…I need you. Within this envelope is everything you need. Including the plane ticket…so pack your things and explain only to your closest friends and family. The arrangements will have already been made by the time this letter reaches you. This isn‘t goodbye. You will be seeing your friends and family. You are going to be king. They can surely come to your coronation. See you soon. I will explain everything else and answer all of your questions in person.
Love,
                                                                                                     

Mom

Once I read the letter I was hit by wave after wave of conflicting emotions. Amazement.
Anger. Fury. Excitement. Happiness. Depression. Anxiousness. The list could go on forever. I
held the plane ticket in my hand and stared at it for quite some time, waiting for it all to sink in.
I had so many questions. Why me? What made me so special? Why were my parents sworn to
secrecy? How would I rule a country? How could I be a king? What would Johnny think? I tried
once again to clear my mind.

In the bathroom I splashed cold water on my face to try and wake from this dream-like
state. Either this was a dream within a dream or it was the real thing, because when I looked at
my bed the letter and plane ticket were exactly where I had left them. I spent quite some time just
staring in the mirror. Pale skin. Tall. Dull grey eyes. Wiry brown hair. Skinny. Tight shirt. Tripp
pants. Chains. Gauged ears. Converse. I didn’t exactly scream royalty or king material. I’m just a
normal eighteen year old boy, I had thought to myself. I’m not even popular in my high school. How am I going to get the respect of an entire country? I guess this was the cause of my gut feeling from this morning.

I moodily stormed into the family room and confronted my parents. With a knowing
look they had shaken there heads and apologized for the secrecy, assuring me that it was for
“my own good”. I told them the news and they took it well, we had a family embrace and then
they urged me to go pack. I told them I loved them even though they’ve been lying to me for
the past eighteen years of my life and went upstairs to pack my things.

The problem was I didn’t know what to bring and what not to bring. What would a king
need? I was sure that my wants and needs would be well taken care of in “Alzagnia”. So I
decided to only pack personal items, a few clothes and some other sentimental things. While I
was packing I called Johnny and attempted to explain to him what was going on. I said my other
necessary goodbyes and finished packing.

This journal is helping me to collect my thoughts as well as to record them. I was surely
correct this morning when I felt something important was going to go down. Little did I know
it meant I was going to be a KING. Its like I don’t even have a say in the matter. I don’t want
to leave, but my country needs me. My plane leaves tomorrow. I need to sleep now…