بالاها

CHAPTER THREE

Tops

Monica stood outside Tops, a popular student hangout, waiting for her friend Yvonne.

A small dog ran out to her very excitedly. It looked exactly like a dog she had when she was young. It had the same short black fur and white nose. Its nose had 4 black spots on it. The only thing different was its colour.

“Oh Papai, is that you?” She picked the dog out to let it kiss her face, the way it used to.

She was short as her dog Papai even though he had died when she was 12. The look in his eyes and the sounds of his barks was so familiar to her.

As she held the dog in her arms, a young boy pulled her jacket.

“Excuse me miss, can I have my dog back please?” “Oh, is this yours? I thought. I mean of course you can.”

As Monica gave the boy the dog, it began to bark wildlently. The boy tried to keep it quiet but it tried to jump out of his arms.

He carried the dog away but Monica could hear it’s barking all the way down the street.

When Yvonne arrived, Monica was crying. “Oh, you’ll never believe what’s happening to me. Let’s go inside, I need to sit down.” Monica told Yvonne all about the necklace, about Herbie, about the dog.

“Monica you really don’t believe all that, do you? It was a mistake. The old man probably just looked like your father. You said yourself he couldn’t talk. And the dog, many dogs look the same.” “But it was so real Yvonne. Maybe I just wanted to believe it was real.”

“Look. If you don’t stop this, you’ll get yourself into trouble. It was a mistake. You saw something which wasn’t there,”

Yvonne was able to make Monica relax. They ordered their pizza and began to talk about other things when

Monica saw Owen across the room.

“Now don’t tell me I don’t see him. That’s the guy who fixed my car.”

Owen saw them looking over at him, and he waved hello. He walked over and sat with them.

“I’m glad I found you.”

“Owen, this is Yvonne.”

“Pleased to meet you. Look, I’ve read more about your blue scarab.”

“Wait a minute. wait a minute! I’ve just finished telling her that there is no such thing as ghosts or sun gods or whatever else you want to tell her.”

“Yvonne, let him finish.”

“The ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris, the sun god’s helper, used that stone so that people on earth could help those who had died. They thought dead people had to go through a trial. In that trial, they had to show that the good things they had done on earth were greater than the bad things. Their actions could help the living improve themselves by teaching them something. If the living learn something valuable from the life of someone else, who is now dead, they can continue living their lives in a better way. This is good for the living but also for the dead. The gods will see that the dead had lived good lives since they continue influencing the living in a positive way.”

“Owen, that was thousands of years ago!”

“Wait a minute, Yvonne. Let’s just try to understand this. Do you think I could have seen a dead person alive again?”

“I don’t know about that, but I know someone who does, and he’d like to meet you. His name is Professor Lloyd. He taught that class on ancient Egypt I told you about. Would you like to talk to him?”

“Why not?”

“This is mad!”

Monica was silent for a few minutes, because she was thinking of her father. She finally asked Owen about Herbie.

“Who’s that old man who is working at the garage? What’s his name, Herbie?”

“Yeah, Herbie. Strange, but right after you left, we couldn’t find him. He never came back.”