I had been looking for my roommate Dawud for an hour and a half before I finally found him. I had checked the dorm, the campus library, the prayer hall and the cafeteria. If I had been smarter, I would’ve checked the bar first.
Sister Hina had called my cell phone at 8 o’clock that evening, and I admit I was surprised when I heard her on the end of the line. I never thought she would’ve called a brother, she’s not that kind of sister.
“Brother Asim,” she said quietly, “I think you should find Brother Dawud.”
The worst and ugliest sound – unrelenting, electronic beeping, steadily screeching – eeeh – eeeh – eeeh – eeeh – eeeh… Ugh, please stop, he thought, reaching his arm out into the darkness to slap the top of the alarm. Somewhere on top of the clock was the relief button. Ahh yes, relief.
Silence. His consciousness sunk back down into the warm enveloping waters of sleep. What was he dreaming about? What was that precious piece of unfinished business left unresolved a few moments before? Ahh yes, there it is again. So perfect, so peaceful, so EEEH! – eeeh! – eeeh! – eeeh! – eeeh!
When Dr. and Mrs. Sultan arrived at Dr. and Mrs. Khan’s home, it was late in the lull of a winter night, bitterly cold with a biting wind on top of that. The two guests thawed and were soon seen to the sitting room, seated, and removed of the burdens of their now unnecessary jackets and scarves. Mrs. Khan promptly offered chai [tea], which of course all in the room eagerly accepted, except for her husband, Dr. Khan, who suspected this would be yet another round of tea served with the same inferior sugar his wife was so prone to selecting.
Today was when I first noticed it. It was the distinct feeling that someone had noticed me. She was a young girl who lived in the apartment complex. She had the clumsy appeal that young teenagers have when they are trying to assume self-confidence by putting on the appearance of being an adult. She was not overly attractive, but she was not ugly by any means. In fact it was a slight defect that actually granted her appeal. It was something about her eyes… no, actually it was one of her eyelids that fell limp and did not quite open as high as the other. Her skin was a medium chocolate brown and she was wearing black denim.
Uncle Sham was hard at work. He would get up every morning before dawn, wake his secretaries for State and Defense and with a war song on their lips set out for work. They worked tirelessly to pass resolutions spending many sleepless nights in the process. After getting the wording exactly right, they would hurry up to the council to pass their resolutions. However, his allies Frank and Kraut would spend all their time engaged in making speeches in the debating society. They had made the Hall of the Assembly into a great debating society.
Stories 
