Chapter 2: The Black Ring

Eat. Drink. Sleep. Read. Repeat.

This is what I have been doing for the past 14 days since I came to my grandfather's house. I read tons of works by Naguib Mahfouz, re-read a thousand and oneِ Arabian Nights, and The Saga of Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan for a thousand times.

Why was there no time to read manga and watch Netflix as I had previously planned? I really wanted to do that. To see all these cheap dramas in the midst of that curfew, but all blames on the internet service provider routine and their slowness which rivaled all the turtles The Slowest Being on Earth Award. yeah, that's pretty much the main reason behind that.

But today the situation will change; the Internet will cover my grandfather's old house for the first time in its history. And I'm going to do a festive marathon ... Watching all the movies of my beloved Jin Ji-Hyun.

Suddenly I heard my cell phone ringtone, I rejoiced, as I thought the caller is the internet company to inform me that my ASDL is sound and working from now on, but my happiness quickly dissipated when I saw the name of the caller.

Nader Wageh. My Childhood friend all the way to the final year of college, till society life and a salve like working life, divided us.

"O, are you still alive, you little rascal?"

He answered, " Hahaha, Look at how silly I am. I thought you dead when you didn't call me when you returned to the village. What are you doing right now? Why didn't you come to visit me during the past two weeks?"

I told him, " You Rascal, It's All due to Corona Virus,. I will go out of this house only when they find a vaccine and a cure for it. Otherwise, I will stay in this gentle shell. Enjoy my well-deserved holidays until satiety."

He said: " Holidays?! Didn't you tell me that you were fired?"

I laughed and said sarcastically: " It is all the same for me. The important thing is that I am in a good mood now."

" Ok, sir. What do you think about coming out to the field with me as we used to do, the fruits of guava are fresh and sweetly these days. There is sugarcane waiting to be eaten too. let's grab some of them and go for a walk to our old spot beside the canal bank.

I lifted my eyebrows, "Oh my dear friend! Didn't I tell you that I will only get out of this house when they find a vaccine for that virus? If you want to come to see me here, my house welcomes you and your little girl. But you have to follow my rules.

first: wear a surgical mask, and bring a bottle of medical alcohol with you. Otherwise, I won't open my doors for you.

He snores on the phone in denouncing, saying sarcastically:" No, sir. I'd rather never see you."

I laughed and said, "That's good."

Then I seriously added: "But I miss the grilled corn on the cob, if you find some of them, maybe I would change my terms, all for the glory of having a good barbecue."

"It is not the time yet. Maybe after a month or two."

"Well, then see you after a month or two."

He laughed and said: "It was great to hear your voice, you rascal."

"Goodbye, bastard! I will talk to you later."

I ended the conversation, and then I went to my grandfather's large bedroom, where I installed the router device earlier to find out if the service had started yet or not.

I sighed in despair when I saw that the light bulb of the routers was still the same as before.

I thought, "Well, I think it's okay to re-watch My Sassy Girl for the seventh consecutive day."

I kept it in my all-time favorite movies folder on my laptop.

Suddenly my eyes fell on a portrait of my grandfather hanging over his bed. He was only sixty years old when he took this picture. He had wide shoulders, wearing a luxurious gray Gallabya made of white wool, a white turban, and leaning on a black walking stick made of mahogany wood.

I smiled with sorrow as I remembered my childhood, which I spent a huge period of it in this house, I remembered the stories and fairy tales which my grandfather and grandmother narrated for me before sleeping.

a huge black ring in his right index finger caught my attention. This ring, which our family inherited from an ancestor more than three hundred years ago, but my father refused to wear it after my grandpa passed away, because he thought it is too ugly and inappropriate for the current era.

My grandfather told me about the story of this ring ... that one of our ancestors, when he was still living in Luxor before moving to Cairo, found a cemetery under the floor of their old house, which he found only one mummy and a small black wooden box, inside the box, he found this ring.

This was at a time before the world discovered the importance of these mummies, and before the French Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered the symbols of the Rosetta Stone by more than a hundred years. Before Champollion presents a way for the world to discover the ancient Egyptian civilization. And because that predecessor thought that this ring has magical powers that protect him from evil and prolong his life, he decided to pass it on to his son and then his grandchildren to protect his offspring forever and ever.

I smiled when I remembered this story. Of course my family didn't inherit this ring because they believed in the story of this great grandfather. In fact, all that they thought of this ring it could make a good heirloom or emblem for our family. Also, its value increased within our family after they found that the symbol engraved on the ring doesn't have any connection with the languages of the ancient Egyptian kingdom.

Ah, right. My dad told me that this ring is still in my grandfather's room. As long as my dad doesn't want to wear it, there is nothing wrong with keeping it.

I headed towards the office, then began to open and inspect the drawers until I finally found it inside the antique black wooden box.

I picked up the ring, and I wore it in my thumb. Then I checked it.

Yes, my father was right. This ring is ugly, and it doesn't fit the present time.

I lost interest in the ring.

And now what?

Yes, let's go back and have a cup of coffee, and watch our dear John Ji Hyun movie.

I went to the kitchen, and started preparing the settings for making an authentic Arabic coffee cup.

I found that the sugar was about to run out, so I decided to bring the sugar bag to refill the jar.

I was carrying the bag when I suddenly felt hot over my right hand. I swear in an impulsive way.

I looked at my hand, and then I saw a scary sight, the ring literally melted over my finger, turned into a liquid, and It began crawling across my hands like a snake until it reached the inside part of my right hand's antebrachium, and settled above my skin as if it was a tattoo.

Damn!

Is this the curse of the Pharaohs?

Am I the only one in my family who will be cursed by the Pharaohs?

I was horrified, I put the sugar bag between my feet quickly, and with my fingers, I tried to rub the tattoo to remove it.

But to no avail.

But my arms got hotter in the inner ulna region.

Suddenly, the kitchen disappeared in front of my eyes, and I felt that every bone in my body was literally hurting me.

After that, I began to fall into a black swirl with no end and no beginning.

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