wonderwereld

[wonderwereld]

The Corner of Misfortune

With more passengers on board, an acceptable tradition, the bus departs from the coastal town of Al-Djadida, Morocco. A neatly dressed young lady, visibly disgruntled, squeezes her way through the almost impassable aisle toward the front. Panting, she stands beside the driver, who does his best to understand her and indicates he has no objection to her time-consuming proposal. He changes his route, hearing exclamations and questions, but he stubbornly follows through with the plan. The bus drives through the gate of the military police building and comes to a halt. The doors remain closed, leaving the passengers astonished. A curious customs officer strolls up to the bus and looks at the driver with amusement. The driver slides the window aside and confides something to him. The customs officer finishes his listening session with a nod, turns around, and enters the building, only to reappear a moment later with two colleagues. The bus door buzzes open, and the head of a higher-ranking customs officer pokes through. “Silence for a moment,” he asks the passengers. He then looks questioningly at the bus driver, who gestures with his head at the young lady beside him. The official signals for her to get off. A mobile phone belonging to one of the customs officers is put in the spotlight. With this device at the ready, the customs officer returns to the bus. The door swings open again, and with one foot on the bottom step, the customs officer listens attentively. A tone is heard in the deathly silent bus. All heads turn in the direction of the sound, except for one. This head belongs to a somewhat older woman; she is startled and, involuntarily, glances at the heavy shopping bag on the floor. That's where the tone comes from. The customs officer asks the passengers to clear the walkway, as best as it goes, then steps fully inside and stands in front of the woman. He takes her bag in his hand and orders her to step outside. The young thief can now breathe a sigh of relief; he had acted cleverly. When he saw his victim struggling her way to the driver, he spotted an opportunity to dispose of the stolen mobile phone and slipped it into the older woman's bag.

The alleged female thief is arrested and charged, not for the theft, but for a human arm found wrapped in newspaper and plastic in her bag. Clairvoyant as she was, she couldn’t have predicted that she and her accomplice, the caretaker of a cemetery, would be discovered. However, a profitable séance without a limb would have lacked credibility.

[wonderwereld]

I’m happy.