Mehranullah

Many moons ago in the city of Damascus there was born a boy. This boy was the son of the wealthy royals of the city and they named him Darius Benjamin. Such an aristocratic title however, was unsuitable for a small boy, especially one as mischevious as he, forever getting into trouble and being scolded endlessly. They decided to name him after the most sought after motorcar in the kingdom, the Suzuki Mehran. Although Mehran was a born social butterfly (that sounds poncy, lets say he was a born social leopard) he grew up in isolation to hide the fact that he often suffered from oral herpes. Such a disease of the body was viewed at the time in Damascus to be related to a concurrent disease of the mind. As he grew older, Mehran found his existence to be a pitiful and lonely one, without friends or lovers, isolated from all but his immediate family: his sister, brother and mother. His father was in a distant land, having been sent there to care for the many trade centres they had in that part of the world. His mother loved Mehran dearly and was forever supportive of him yet was immensely saddened by the lack of fullfillment in his life, knowing full well her son's capacity for success if only he could be let out into the world. One night, after much consultation (it is the Bahai way) Mehran and his mother plotted and planned a scheme for his escape from the dreary days and nights that constituted his existence. In the dead of night, Mehran was to be placed upon a camel laden with provisions to last him a mere 4.6 hours and send into the unforgiving Sonoran desert to seek his fortune. Interestingly enough, the outer wall of the fortress castle in which they lived was a transportation portal that connected to the Sonoran desert. As he set out on his travels that night, a strong wind picked up and the locusts that had been plaguing their city for decades left the kingdom, following Mehran into the desert to their death.It took Mehran 40 days and 76 nights to reach his destination, but when he arrived, his father was there to greet him. After executing an african chant in celebration of his presence, his father motioned for him to follow him into a small hut made of palms, ferns and nettles (for protection from the noeyedeer) where the feast was laid out. Mehran was happy then. Many days passed and Mehran began to feel restless. He had tired of constant feasting and his harem of beauties and felt the need to continue his journey of self discovery. He mapped a route to the closest witch's treehouse and walked there, careful to weave between the many land mines that peppered the land. His father offered to make him head of their many business ventures despite the horrible deformities surrounding his lips but Mehran knew this could not be. He was to find his purpose in life and was determined to visit the witch to learn of his talents.