Mohd is sitting on the floor, waiting patiently for Royston to finish drinking his cup of beverage. Royston takes his final sip and places the cup on the floor. "Where am I?" Royston asks.
"You're in my home, on the island of Ultheem. You are not Portuguese are you?"
"No, I'm English."
Royston looks around him, not seeing a shred of any modern technology of the 21st century. He spots a drawn map like those used in ancient times. "Ummmm... those maps, they are like really old right?" Royston enquires.
Mohd turns to see what Royston is looking at before answering, "not really. Maybe a few years old. I update them myself whenever I can."
Royston takes a while to absorb this new information, before cautiously asking, "this is going to sound really strange, but what year is it?"
Mohd cocks his head at the question, wondering at this new stranger and his strange question, when he hears a knock on the hut's door.
DHANDEHELU, Mohd's adopted brother, enters the hut, a pile of dry clothes in his hands, which he hands over to Royston.
"You can put those on while your clothes dry," Mohd indicates to Royston.
Royston takes the clothes. He looks at the two men and how they are attired. Dhandehelu proceeds to stand in the corner of the hut.
Royston unwraps the pile to discover it is a traditional Maldivian attire with a sarong. Royston struggles to keep the sarong upright, but it repeatedly falls down to his feet.
"Here, let me help you," Mohd offers.
Mohd gets up from his perch and helps Royston with the sarong, whilst Dhandehelu, still standing in the corner, tries not to laugh.
Royston and Mohd are still trying to secure the sarong when 2 new males, HASSAN and ALI, Mohd's two older brothers, enter the hut. They are stunned by what they see in front of them as it seems to look like Royston and Mohd were in a very compromising position.
At the sight of the 2 brothers face, Dhandehelu bursts out laughing, unable to control his laughter any longer.
"What in the world is going on here," Hassan shouts incredulously.
Royston and Mohd quickly separate from each other, with Royston struggling to hold the sarong up. With all the commotion happening, no one notices that a photo has slipped out of the pocket of Royston's wet pants except for Mohd. He quickly slips the photo into his sarong.
Mohd turns to his brothers. "My brothers, this is........"
Mohd turns to look at Royston, forgetting to ask his name. "Apologies, but what is your name?"
"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Royston Ellis."
Royston sticks his hand out for a handshake, unsure of which brother to shake hands with first.
YOU ARE READING
Freeing Maldives - A Hero in Time
AdventureBased on the novel written by Royston Ellis, my interpretation tells the tale of how a mourning Englishman gets swept back in time to a period when the Portuguese had invaded the nation of Maldives, culminating in the historic guerilla battle, that...
