A Lost Dream

Walid thought having his suitcase in hand and heading to the station was the first step to achieving his everlasting dream. He arrived very early at the station to guarantee that he would undoubtedly catch the bus. He went directly to the queue of the ticket office to get a return ticket from Cairo to Aswan at the end of May 2015. After waiting for 30 minutes in the queue, he eventually got the ticket to heaven as he dreamed of. Walid bought some biscuits, cookies and drinks for the very long trip that takes 18 hours on the train. He was still worried about the documents he would use to apply for his dream job at the college of Al Alsun to teach English language and literature. He began to check the documents more than once to make sure that he had all what he needed for that application. While he was sitting on a seat waiting for the next train which leaves Cairo train station at 5.30 pm and arrives the next day at 11.30 am in Aswan south of Egypt, he was thinking of all the difficulties and the challenges he had to get through to get his PhD while he was working as a teacher. It was very difficult to work and study at the same time for nearly 7 years especially when the college was in another city which made it much more difficult. The train finally arrived and he got on the second carriage and had his favorite sat by the window which would give him the chance to see most of his country from north to south. The trip starts and Walid drowned in his thoughts and ideas while he was two steps away from his dream. The train began to move slowly until it came out of the station and began to move a lot faster. He used his phone to tell his parents his trip had already started and also talked to his beloved to tell her that he was fine and everything went as planned and promised he he would return quickly as he already missed her hug. Walid booked the return ticket the next day on the train that leaves from Aswan to Cairo at 7.30 pm. He was looking at the sights and enjoying the nature of Egypt until it got dark. He fell asleep and 4 hours later, he woke up because it became a bit colder. He took his jacket out of his handbag and put it on to keep warm. The passenger opposite to him began to talk to him to let time pass quickly and started a conversation that Walid enjoyed a lot. The passenger was an old man who has a lot of wisdom and began to talk about his life journey and the key to its success was his determination and strong will and encouraged to tell Walid to be patient and determined to achieve his goal. Time passed quickly and day light began to appear. Walid enjoyed the first rays of the sun and the different monuments on the sides of the road and the palm trees that were heavy with their tasty dates of several colors and types. Finally the train arrived the station of the most famous city of Upper Egypt Luxor with its long and rich history. This city has one third of the monuments of the world a lone. Walid was very excited to look at the different sights of the famous city and remembered the Pharaohs while living in this area and how they made a great civilization that still impresses the world. At 11.30 the train arrived at Aswan Station and Walid got off the train quickly to take a micro-bus that goes to Sahara area where the college is. He began to feel nervous because the micro-bus should wait for passengers until it was full which took nearly an hour and another hour to reach the college because it is behind the High Dam outside the city. Walid was keen to arrive before the employees leave their offices at 2 pm. The mico-bus arrived at 1.30 pm outside the complex of colleges and Walid began to run for 10 minutes to apply before the employees' leaving. Walid arrived at the office with all the required documents in his hand and gave them to the employee who began to check them carefully but angrily because he needed to leave. Walid was very nervous and waiting for the employee's reply when he asked him if everything was fine, but the reply was like the strike of lightning that left Walid shocked. The employee said in triumph that Walid's major was not needed and it was the last day of applying. Walid fell to the chair in disappointment and couldn't talk, so his journey was in vain. For the first time, he began to feel how tired he was. Many questions were in his head like what he would tell his parents, his beloved, his manager and his friends when they ask him if he got the position. While he was sinking in the swamp of his sad thoughts, the employee told him that he had to close the office and leave. Walid went out of the building and thought of all the obstacles he passed through to get to that stage, he also remembered the passenger he met him on the train and told him about the secret of his success that lied in his determination and stamina. Walid remembered also his words when he said the strike that doesn't kill you should make you stronger. Walid went back to the Aswan city and went directly to the Nile to see the longest and oldest river that made the greatest civilization and recharged his energy again with deep faith that he would chase his dream until the last breath while waiting for the train to take him back to Cairo again and thinking of his next adventure of achieving his sole dream. Do you think he will reach his goal?