24 Restless Hours

pretty tones. Dolls were riding in cars and buses. Tanks, rifles, pistols and machine guns were rapidly firing off bullets and shells.
White bunnies held huge carrots between their paws and gnawed so tint, 'heir teeth showed up to their cars.
Most important was my camel, who'd upset everything if she tried to move. She was so big that there wasn't room for her in the
show window so she stood at the edge of the sidewalk all day long and watched the people. Now she was standing in the middle
of the store jingling the bells around her neck, chewing gum, and pointing her ears in the direction of the ticking clock. Every
now and then a row of white haired baby camels cried out from the cupboard, "Mama, if you go out, let us come too, okay?"
I wanted to have a word or two with my camel, but no matter how loud I shouted, she didn't hear my voice. I kicked the door several
times, hoping that the others would quiet down, but just at that moment, someone seized me by the ear and said, "Are you
crazy, kid? Get out of here and go to sleep."
It was no time to stand around. I freed myself from the cop and set off so I wouldn't be any later.
By the time I reached my father, the streets were all quiet and deserted. Lone taxis passed by. My father was sleeping on top of his
hand cart in such a position that if I wanted to sleep there too, I'd have to wake him up and get him to move his legs. Other carts
with people sleeping on them were at the edge of the gutter or by the side of the wall. Several people had fallen asleep on the
ground. There was an intersection here where someone from our home town had an ice stand. I fell asleep as I stood there and
slowly slumped down at the foot of our hand cart.
Jingle! …Jingle! …Jingle! ….
"Ahoy, Latif, where are you? Latif, why don't you answer me? Why don't you come down so we can go riding?"
Jingle! …Jingle! …Jingle! ….
"Latif, dear, don't you hear me? I'm your camel. I came so we could go riding around. Well, come get on and let's go."
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