Footprints in the Sand Desert

by Manakhatan Boldsukh

  Since the departure of Alberto’s family, almost a year had passed the same way in the hospital, the doctor checked her pulse, there was no considerable improvement, and the nurses were washing her body, shaving her head, feeding her body with the necessary vitamins by injection. Everyone in the hospital liked the everlasting sleeping woman by calling her Snow White, because nobody knew her real name. Besides, there was no sight of a man who would kiss the Snow White, electrifying her nerves opening the eyes. The doctor had informed Alberto and his wife about current condition of the woman monthly, sometimes weekly. The power of humanity was the engine of the hospital and the Red Cross.

  That was the beginning of the summer time, shortly after the fresh spring had said goodbye by giving the mature green to the trees making them feel dressed in proud. Alberto returned to the surfing camp in South Portugal, that time with his friend. He was also a good surfer and a big music fan, especially the melodies written by Alberto’s wife, who couldn’t give English classes that summer in the surfing campus, because she had to finish a composition of a movie music for an international project which had already begun a year ago. So, she and the twins were going to accompany Alberto and his friend a week later.

  The surfing classes were fully booked, even there were people who had to wait till next summer to attend the classes where the former world champion of surfing taught his special tricks. The most important philosophy of his success was not in the mechanic, but in the mind which made the kneeled one overwhelmed by the waves stand up again, in order to come back down on the knees, till the knees feel tired of the same ending and begin to ride the waves, the nature force beyond our power.

  As they arrived the camp a day before the beginning of the classes Alberto’s soul was hurrying to see the woman in the coma, as he had left last summer a precious plant in a glass labor, of which improvement was expecting to be shown. Alberto drove to the hospital accompanied by his friend, who had heard a week ago about the whole discovery regarding the woman. At the hospital the doctor and the nurses greeted Alberto in such extent, as if they were almost relatives, and said there was a surprise for them, the woman had woken up from the coma which lasted almost for a year.

  They entered the in boring white furnished hospital room, where the only colors were rose curtain and blue cups on the bedside table. A woman with a bright smile and shoulder long red hair was sitting on the bed, leaning the pillowed wall, her luminous eyes were looking the men, who entered the room accompanied by the doctor. The warm-hearted nurses became fond of the woman who they called Snow White and stopped to shave her head and let the hair grow combing carefully. They were all happy, as she opened her eyes a week ago.

  The doctor hinted to Alberto and turned to the woman,

  „He is the man who found you!“ The red haired woman said,

  „Thank you very much! You saved my life.“

  Alberto: „With great pleasure, I am happy to see you healthy and sound. By the way, I am Alberto, what is your name?“

  The woman smiled to the doctor who had some difficulty to pronounce the strange name and turned to Alberto,

  „My name is Khatan.“

  Alberto asked her again to learn the right pronunciation of her name, and hinted to his friend, who was looking at Khatan in bewilderment, said,

  „May I introduce you my friend Miracle.“

  Miracle smiled to the woman with sympathy and warmth, saying,

  „Nice to meet you, Khatan. A week ago, I called my friend to say hello and I heard the story about your appearance forwarded by the ocean, so I decided to follow my friend and now I am happy to see you alive. Welcome to the life.“

  Khatan: „Thank you, I have been going through the desert and then through the ocean, afterwards through the coma dreaming here in the hospital bed. I am really happy to be back to life, opening my eyes.“

  Miracle: „What a strange name? Where are you from?“

  Khatan: „I am from Mongolia.“

  Alberto: „The ocean couldn’t have been forwarding you over the half globe, right?“

  Khatan: „No, that is a long story, well, I used to live in Munich and then in Marrakech and in the desert Sahara, followed by a journey which I had to break.“

  Miracle: „I understand. How do you feel now?“

  Khatan: „Quite well, thank you, I couldn’t imagine that I have been asleep for almost a year.“

  Alberto: „I cannot believe that an Asian woman could have natural red hair, your look is strange to be guessed where you come from.“

  Doctor: „Yes, I told her the same. I was guessing that she had fallen from the Mars into the ocean.“

  Khatan: „The Mars was too close to the Sun, so I needed to be cooled down in the ocean of the Earth.“

  The white room of the hospital became filled with laughter and the rose of the curtain began to dominate the white.

  Alberto: „What does Khatan mean?“

  Khatan: „That means Queen.“

  Miracle: „Oh, what a coincidence, we encounter here a Queen.“

  They all laughed and the doctor sounded her name again proving that he could pronounce the name also well, and he said,

  „By the way, we called Mongolian Ambassador, as soon as we found out her nationality and the Ambassador is going to visit her in the hospital. He should be here soon.“

  Interrupting the doctor, a nurse announced that there was a visit for Khatan. The Mongolian Ambassador had traveled from Lisbon. They introduced themselves shaking hands and the sympathetic elderly Mongolian thanked to Alberto, who had saved a citizen of the nation which the Ambassador represented in Portugal. He had brought a colorful bunch of flowers to Khatan and said,

  „I have a good news for you! My people of the bureau arranged that your new passport could be issued in short time, the lost one is expired officially.“

  He handed Khatan her new passport identity with her photo which had been taken by the doctor in the hospital room. The Ambassador added,

  „You have also the residence permission in Europe, so you are now again the legal, world citizen with an identity, not a prey of the ocean anymore.“

  The doctor, the nurses, Alberto and Miracle smiled to the Ambassador by thinking that the passport could have been delivered by an express post and wondering his warmth and gentle way to treat his own citizen like a father, as if the whole Mongolia was there to protect one of their children. The Ambassador turned to Khatan,

  „You should have your graduation diploma from Munich University printed newly by telling the truth that was lost.“

  Khatan nodded to him, her luminous eyes filled with tears, saying,

  „Yes, I do. First, I need some time for recovery and to think about what I would like going to do in the rest of my life.“

  Doctor: „Khatan, you know the world is open for you.“

  Miracle: „Now, you need time to relax.“

  Ambassador: „My secretary proved also your bank account in Munich, which has been all right. As she told me, your bank card must be on the way to the hospital by post.“

  Miracle: „Khatan, what happened to your family? Is there no-one?“

  Khatan: „My grandparents, who brought me up passed away. Now there is nobody left, who I would count to a family. My real parents had chosen their own way, they became strangers to me. I used to live without them.“

  Alberto: „That is all right, Khatan. The family and relatives are not just a matter of social statistic, the meaning and bound is the most criteria.“

  Khatan: „I know.“

  Doctor: „By the way, she had lost her sight blinded by sand storm in the desert.“

  Alberto: „Oh really, did you travel crossing the sand dunes through the sand storm?“

  Khatan nodded, her eyes filled with tears, and nobody in the room wanted to bother her with another question. The Ambassador, who was sitting close to her bed, shook his head and said,

  „Khatan, you are fortunate to have survived the ocean, the bit
ter of the life would be compensated in the rest of your life. Now look ahead, the life you can create and enjoy.“

  Khatan: „Thank you very much, I will do.“

  Ambassador: „Nothing to thank, anyway, that is my duty as an ambassador to protect the right and life of my citizens in abroad.“

  Then the Ambassador had to return to his diplomatic duties in time, the warm hearted man had just come to hand the newly issued passport and to have a look at the condition of his citizen. He shook hands with Alberto, Miracle and Doctor, by thanking to Alberto and the doctor again. Then he said goodbye to Khatan by giving her a pat on the shoulder. Afterwards, a nurse guided the Ambassador outside where he got into a black car two small Mongolian flags on it.

  Alberto: „Khatan, stay with us in the summer camp. We will teach you surfing. Soon my wife and kids, a boy and a girl, will join us, so you won’t be the only woman among us.“

  Miracle: „You won’t need to dive into the ocean again, there is a much better alternative in life.“

  Khatan: „No, I won’t. I am very happy to be able to see again, after having spent five years being blind.“

  Doctor: „Her sight is still improving, the nerves need some time to be recovered fully. Thank to the salty ocean water accompanied by some magic, the sand particles, which had made her blind, rinsed away. Now she sees things without color, like a black-white movie.“

  Khatan nodded to them smiling, she was looking like a witch with her twinkling luminous eyes and red hair.

  Khatan: „Compared to being blind, seeing things in black-white means to me a paradise.“

  Alberto: „Doctor, how long does it take to become the normal sight in color?“

  Doctor: „Well, that depends, in her case she would become the sight of color, but that is more a matter of psychology than time.“

  Miracle: „Do you mean the emotion by saying psychology?“

  Doctor: „Can be.“

  Alberto and Miracle decided to teach Queen how to surf, which she agreed gladly. She, Khatan, Telly, Queen, just wanted to enjoy the moments of life and to overtake the blind years with that much intensity of living. Next day Khatan left the hospital accompanied by Alberto and Miracle, in the afternoon she saw the ocean in black-white enjoying its noise and salty fresh scent.

  Miracle, who was standing by her side, asked her,

  „Queen, are you still seeing in black-white?“

  Khatan: „Yes, I will tell your hair color when I become able to see.“

  Miracle: „That will make me happy.“

  Khatan: „I have a feeling that I have met you somewhere.“

  Miracle: „Oh really, what exactly makes you think that way?“

  Khatan: „Your voice and soul.“

  Miracle: „But, I see your soul first time, the luminous eyes.“

  They spent several hours sitting on the warm sand enjoying the ocean, surfers falling and riding up and down the waves, of which black-white picture was insatiable to observe. The senses were whispering ‚what a freedom‘ and the heartbeats were in harmony. After having finished his classes Alberto joined them and shared the insatiable appetite for life. Having some snack sitting together on the warm sand by discussing about weather and showering the surfing master with compliments, they went to have dinner. They stayed together in the same house where Alberto’s family had stayed in the summer before, which had enough room for guests. Next morning, the surfing class was joined by Miracle and Queen. That way they had spent a week, as the wife and twins of Alberto arrived, bringing more laughter and warmth in the wooden house in Portuguese style. They became good friends in a short time.

  About two weeks later, since they had met in the hospital room, Miracle asked Khatan, if she would like to have a date with him.

  Khatan: „Are you joking, we have been dating every moment, since you appeared showering spell on me.“

  Miracle: „That is right, but I mean, dinner for two, by the sea.“

  Khatan: „Dinner with Miracle, of course I would like to.“

  Miracle: „I want to tell you something.“

  Khatan: „I was guessing.“

  Miracle: „What have you been guessing?“

  Khatan: „The color of your hair and eyes.“

  Miracle: „I want to have a candle light dinner with you, by the sea.“

  Khatan: „I like the way you express yourself.“

  A kind of spell had already happened out of the human mind, as their eyes met in the white carpeted hospital room, but the rhythm of their hearts would have betrayed that was the love of the first sight, which remained inside to be savored in the hearts to wait the moment of magic.

  Alberto’s wife and Khatan made fascinating women power painting the atmosphere colorfully and cooking together. That afternoon they left the men alone to prepare for the candle light dinner. Khatan was still not able to tell the colors apart, so Alberto’s wife was trying to express in words the nuances of possible dresses for her dinner with Miracle. After their purchase, the women cooked for four, and as Miracle drove Khatan to the next village, Alberto’s family began their dinner.

  Khatan’s shoulder long red hair was betraying the direction of the warm wind blowing slowly from the seaside, her red chiffon dress was reminding Miracle of a certain moment in his past, which made his senses happy. He was wearing light, bright blue suit, stressing his suntanned face with irresistible masculine aura.

  Khatan: „What a wonderful place for a rendezvous, thank you for your drive.“

  Miracle: „Thank you the way, as you are.“

  Khatan: „What a strange name, Miracle, why did your parents name you Miracle?“

  Miracle: „Well, that was only my grandfather, who used to call me that way.“

  Khatan: „Your friends too, call you Miracle.“

  Miracle: „Only in these past days till this moment, Alberto and others on the surfing camp were asked to call me that way.“

  Khatan: „Brown.“

  Miracle: „What do you mean, Queen.“

  Khatan: „Your hair color is brown.“

  Miracle: „I am so happy my dear, your color sight is returning.“

  Khatan: „The color of the ice-cream is pink. And your suit …“

  Their hands touched each other over the dinner table and the sight of the eyes were avoiding to lose each other, reflecting the candlelight twinkling.

  Miracle: „I fell in love with your way, as I saw you first time almost a year ago, when your eyes were closed.“

  Khatan began to tremble, the senses hadn’t disappointed her.

  Miracle: „I had been looking for you over a year, and then Alberto told me about his discovery of the last summer, as I called him shortly before our arrival in the surfing camp. But, I wasn’t sure about my guess, and that luminous eyes and red hair made me so happy.“

  There was no sound from his red haired partner. Miracle touched her both hands and said,

  „You know, Queen, I am the … You asked me a few days ago, if we have met somewhere.“

  Queen interrupted him and told,

  „I knew, Adrian.“

  They smiled to each other absorbing the happy feeling expressed in the eyes.

  Adrian: „You may want to know about Billy and Alice?“

  Queen: „No.“

  They were already thrown open cards, because Telly had called police betraying them the whereabouts of Alice, who had murdered Sky by poisoning and had been on the escape from the police who had been looking for her footprints in the sand desert. Before the cruise coasted, Suvd had been arrested by the policemen who had come down to the ship from the helicopter.

  Billy would never miss Telly, who was his prey of the desert to be delivered to a friend of him, who was a kind of Maria.

  After the colorful dinner, Adrian and Queen went for a walk along the beach under the sparkling stars listening to the music coming from the ocean in harmony with the rhythms of the hearts.

  The words broke the silent correspond
ence of the feelings.

  Queen: „I fell in love with your soul, as I met you first time on the gambling map.“

  The End

  Thank You

  Bibliografische Informationen der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek: Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über www.dnb.de abrufbar.

  TWENTYSIX - Der Self-Publishing-Verlag

  Eine Kooperation zwischen der Verlagsgruppe Random House GmbH und BOD - Books on Demand

  © 2016 Boldsukh, Manakhatan

  Herstellung und Verlag:

  BoD - Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt

  ISBN: 9783740700027