***Disclaimer: I do not own The Mummy or any of it's characters.****
(Author's note: Do you people read this story? If yes, please review!!!)
The morning came much too early. The fight with Gabor ended around 1 am, and at 5 am we had to get up again. I had really weird dreams that night, like I always have when I don't get enough sleep. The dream was about Budapest, my hometown. It wasn't a dream actually, it was a memory. I dreamt about my parents and my home. I was a small child again, around six or seven years old.
It was the day our neighbors moved out, and with them my best friend Benjamin. I couldn't remember much about him, but I knew that I had really liked him. I was very sad when his family moved to a different place. I remembered that he was a year older than me and that he had blue eyes and dark hair. I was sure that he had become a really handsome man
I nearly fell asleep again at breakfast, if O'Connell hadn't woken me up.
"Well, Jad, did you get what you wanted?"
"Sure, it was child's play!" OK, that was a lie, but I had promised not to tell O'Connell about what really happened.
"So how did you do it?"
"I just waited 'til he was asleep and took some stuff."
"I'd love to see his face when he finds out."
"Yeah, me too!"
Oh no, there he was. Gabor waved to O'Connell. That surprised me a bit, but I thought that he might follow the motto: "If you can't beat your enemy, make friends with him" Gabor was coming over to us.
"Hey O'Connell, someone robbed me yesterday. My best goods are gone!"
O'Connell smiled gloatingly and winked at me.
"Oh what a pity! You can't trust anybody around here!"
"Exactly my words, O'Connell! By the way, why don't you introduce the lovely lady to me?"
It seemed that Beni was a perfect liar - or that he had amnesia.
"Oh, all right, Beni this is Jadviga, Jadviga this is Beni."
"It's a pleasure to me." Beni said with a wink.
He sat down next to me.
"Say O'Connell, when do we get our marching orders? We're stuck in this place for much too long, now."
"As far as I know, we could be leaving for Egypt every day now."
"Why Egypt?" I interrupted.
Beni answered "We are going to Hamunaptra. It's a city full of gold in the middle of the desert. Nobody knows if it really exists, but if it does, we're rich!"
"I thinks that's all fairytales. The only thing we'll get at this place is a sunburn. I bet we don't even find that city." O'Connell said.
"Jadviga, what part of Hungary do you come from?" Beni asked.
"Budapest. Ever been there?"
"Of course, I've been there! That's where I was born! But I haven't been there for ages."
"Beni, I always wanted to know what you are here for." O'Connell asked.
I was grateful for that, for I didn't want to talk to Beni any longer. After all, he tried to kill me last night!
"Ah, you know I've got quick hands"
That meant "I'm a pick-pocket" in criminals' jargon.
"I got caught robbing a synagogue. Lots of good stuff in them holy places; churches, temples, mosques, and who's guarding them?
"Altar boys?" O'Connell supposed.
"Exactly! I speak seven languages, including Hebrew, so my specialty was synagogues. When they caught me, they said that I could either choose prison or the legion and I chose the latter. What about you O'Connell? What are you here for?"
"I was just looking for a good time!"
"Oh. . . yes. What about you, Jadviga?"
Damn, did I really have to talk to that little weasel?
"I robbed one of those rich tourists, she caught me, et voila, I was here. Still better than prison."
"Yes, true, true. But. . It's at least a bit colder in prison, I'm melting here!"
Beni took of his cap, pearls of sweat were running down his forehead already, although the hottest hours of the day still lay ahead.
"It's winter in Budapest right now" Beni sighed and stroked through his dark hair. "How I'd love to be there. It's probably even snowing!"
Snow is something you forget about completely, when you're in the desert. You consider it impossible, that there's a place on earth cold enough for ice and snow.
"Will you stop talking about snow now!? That's torture!" O'Connell moaned.
"Sorry!"
"Oh, Jesus, I have to go now! I must get back to my guns. Beni, Jad, see you later!"
With that, he left. He left me alone with Beni. ( Hooray! )
"Ha, it worked! He didn't notice that we already know each other." Beni said happily. "Don't your like your breakfast? You not even touched it." He almost sounded like my mother.
"I'm too tired to eat. You were really strenuous!"
"Yeah, it was a fierce battle!" he chuckled.
I turned and looked at him. I never really studied him, but now I saw that I had not missed much. He was even scrawnier than I had thought. His water- blue eyes were too big for his gaunt face. His lips were quite big and were hemmed about by his thin moustache, that looked like it was drawn onto his face. He also had a awful haircut; his hair was shaved short up to his ear and the upper part was a page-boy cut. But his teeth were the most repulsive thing of Beni Gabor. They were healthy, but so short that you could see his gums when he smiled. That was nothing he could change, but it was still repulsive. But I was almost sure, that I had seen that face before.
***************
The morning came much too early. The fight with Gabor ended around 1 am, and at 5 am we had to get up again. I had really weird dreams that night, like I always have when I don't get enough sleep. The dream was about Budapest, my hometown. It wasn't a dream actually, it was a memory. I dreamt about my parents and my home. I was a small child again, around six or seven years old.
It was the day our neighbors moved out, and with them my best friend Benjamin. I couldn't remember much about him, but I knew that I had really liked him. I was very sad when his family moved to a different place. I remembered that he was a year older than me and that he had blue eyes and dark hair. I was sure that he had become a really handsome man
I nearly fell asleep again at breakfast, if O'Connell hadn't woken me up.
"Well, Jad, did you get what you wanted?"
"Sure, it was child's play!" OK, that was a lie, but I had promised not to tell O'Connell about what really happened.
"So how did you do it?"
"I just waited 'til he was asleep and took some stuff."
"I'd love to see his face when he finds out."
"Yeah, me too!"
Oh no, there he was. Gabor waved to O'Connell. That surprised me a bit, but I thought that he might follow the motto: "If you can't beat your enemy, make friends with him" Gabor was coming over to us.
"Hey O'Connell, someone robbed me yesterday. My best goods are gone!"
O'Connell smiled gloatingly and winked at me.
"Oh what a pity! You can't trust anybody around here!"
"Exactly my words, O'Connell! By the way, why don't you introduce the lovely lady to me?"
It seemed that Beni was a perfect liar - or that he had amnesia.
"Oh, all right, Beni this is Jadviga, Jadviga this is Beni."
"It's a pleasure to me." Beni said with a wink.
He sat down next to me.
"Say O'Connell, when do we get our marching orders? We're stuck in this place for much too long, now."
"As far as I know, we could be leaving for Egypt every day now."
"Why Egypt?" I interrupted.
Beni answered "We are going to Hamunaptra. It's a city full of gold in the middle of the desert. Nobody knows if it really exists, but if it does, we're rich!"
"I thinks that's all fairytales. The only thing we'll get at this place is a sunburn. I bet we don't even find that city." O'Connell said.
"Jadviga, what part of Hungary do you come from?" Beni asked.
"Budapest. Ever been there?"
"Of course, I've been there! That's where I was born! But I haven't been there for ages."
"Beni, I always wanted to know what you are here for." O'Connell asked.
I was grateful for that, for I didn't want to talk to Beni any longer. After all, he tried to kill me last night!
"Ah, you know I've got quick hands"
That meant "I'm a pick-pocket" in criminals' jargon.
"I got caught robbing a synagogue. Lots of good stuff in them holy places; churches, temples, mosques, and who's guarding them?
"Altar boys?" O'Connell supposed.
"Exactly! I speak seven languages, including Hebrew, so my specialty was synagogues. When they caught me, they said that I could either choose prison or the legion and I chose the latter. What about you O'Connell? What are you here for?"
"I was just looking for a good time!"
"Oh. . . yes. What about you, Jadviga?"
Damn, did I really have to talk to that little weasel?
"I robbed one of those rich tourists, she caught me, et voila, I was here. Still better than prison."
"Yes, true, true. But. . It's at least a bit colder in prison, I'm melting here!"
Beni took of his cap, pearls of sweat were running down his forehead already, although the hottest hours of the day still lay ahead.
"It's winter in Budapest right now" Beni sighed and stroked through his dark hair. "How I'd love to be there. It's probably even snowing!"
Snow is something you forget about completely, when you're in the desert. You consider it impossible, that there's a place on earth cold enough for ice and snow.
"Will you stop talking about snow now!? That's torture!" O'Connell moaned.
"Sorry!"
"Oh, Jesus, I have to go now! I must get back to my guns. Beni, Jad, see you later!"
With that, he left. He left me alone with Beni. ( Hooray! )
"Ha, it worked! He didn't notice that we already know each other." Beni said happily. "Don't your like your breakfast? You not even touched it." He almost sounded like my mother.
"I'm too tired to eat. You were really strenuous!"
"Yeah, it was a fierce battle!" he chuckled.
I turned and looked at him. I never really studied him, but now I saw that I had not missed much. He was even scrawnier than I had thought. His water- blue eyes were too big for his gaunt face. His lips were quite big and were hemmed about by his thin moustache, that looked like it was drawn onto his face. He also had a awful haircut; his hair was shaved short up to his ear and the upper part was a page-boy cut. But his teeth were the most repulsive thing of Beni Gabor. They were healthy, but so short that you could see his gums when he smiled. That was nothing he could change, but it was still repulsive. But I was almost sure, that I had seen that face before.
***************