Something in the Air


Suleiman was feeling happy, but a little anxious. He had just sold his last mango in the market. It was a good season this year and his fruit had sold well, but how long would this last? The sun was blazing down as usual as he counted his money, zipped it inside his pouch and prepared to mount his bicycle for the journey home. Just as he took hold of the handlebars, he saw a man walking purposefully towards him. The man was wearing long, white Arab dress and a neat white cap.


"Asslam-o-Alaikum ()," the stranger said politely.


Suleiman barely had time to respond with "Wa alaikum salam ()" before the man placed his hands on the handlebars and continued, "Suleiman, I have a job for you tomorrow, if you will do it."


Amazed that the stranger knew his name, Suleiman looked at him. Suddenly he felt a cool draught of air and noticed that the man's light robe billowed on this hot, windless day.



"Don't be alarmed," the stranger continued. "I will pay you more for a day's work than you would earn in a year. I know you are the best mango picker in Zanzibar and I want you to harvest my mangoes. That is all. Will you meet me tomorrow morning at Mnazi Mmoja at seven o'clock? I will take you to my mango orchard."


Suleiman stood dumbfounded and was just about to question the stranger when he disappeared into the bustle of the market. The cool draught had vanished along with the finely dressed man. Suleiman stood motionless for a few minutes, dazed by what had happened.Next morning, after a restless night, he wondered if he had dreamed it all.


"You may as well go to meet him," said his wife. "There are no mangoes to sell today - you have nothing to lose."So Suleiman set off on his bicycle. It was an hour's ride to Mnazi Mmoja. When he arrived there was no mango orchard to be seen, but the stranger in white Arab dress was waiting for him. As Suleiman propped his bicycle against a tree, the man approached him, and Suleiman again felt the cool draught. He shivered and saw the fine white robe billowing in the sudden wind. A moment later, the robe was perfectly still. The man smiled and greeted him politely, as before.


"Come with me and I will take you to my orchard, Suleiman," he said.


Suleiman greeted his employer and untied his baskets, which contained his ropes and large sharp knife, from his bicycle. After they had walked a few yards, Suleiman was about to ask where the mango orchard was when he was overwhelmed by an intense perfume. Everything went black for a moment. When he opened his eyes again he found himself in the greenest and most beautiful orchard of mango trees he had ever seen.


"I will return at sunset," said the stranger with a smile, and suddenly he was gone.

Was he there? What happened?" asked his wife.


"I do not know," answered Suleiman and, feeling suddenly weak, he leaned against the table, and told his wife his tale.


When he finished the story, with trembling hands he took off his pouch, unsure whether the money, too, would prove to be some kind of dream. But there it was, and when his wife saw it she danced around the house with the children