The Time He Desires by Kyell Gold

Author:Kyell Gold
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780997279436
Publisher: 24 Carat Words

10

Apologies

He got the number from Doug and then excused himself to attend his evening prayers. But all the way to the mosque he wondered whether there had been a message to him in Doug's decision to move to Coronado, to leave his life here behind and try something new. Or maybe the message had been in the dingo and fox in his line of sight as Doug had been talking. This was different from the uneasiness he'd felt in the presence of gay couples in the past; in the past he hadn't thought as fixedly about any of them as he was now thinking about Gerald, dreading and hoping that the cougar would appear around the next corner.

The presence of the others in the mosque soothed him. He greeted them, clasped paws, and breathed in the scented water they all used to wash. Here, if nowhere else, was a community where even if he had little in common with the other members, he could always come and pray with them, be surrounded by their communal faith, and remember that the world turned under the same eye. Again, following his prayers, he spoke in his head a du'a, not for forgiveness this time, but for understanding. Why was the cougar so foremost in his mind, and was that why he was already envisioning the end of his marriage? Or was Halifa's behavior and their increased estrangement finally sinking in?

He concluded his prayer, one of the last to do so, and rose. Around him, everyone else had formed small groups, talking animatedly as they often did. And as was his recent custom, Aziz moved through the groups without talking to any of them. He wondered whether there was a mosque in Coronado. There had to be at least a small community that prayed together. He could look that up online, he supposed, or on his phone if he cared, but he didn't need to know right this minute.

On the way out, he paused to look at the community bulletin board. There was a meeting the following night to plan activities to promote the mosque in the area. The fennec who'd arranged those activities when Aziz and Halifa had first come here had stepped aside long before, and had passed away some seven years ago. His successor, a nice enough oryx, had recently passed the torch along to a younger, more energetic oryx, whose horns could often be seen waving above the crowds during meetings. Ashtari, Aziz thought his name was, had approached both him and Halifa a few years ago at the worst possible time and had seemed personally offended at their polite refusal to help. Aziz had also said, probably a result both of his quick tongue and his foul mood at the time, that he had been watching community events here for two decades and that nothing substantial had come of them.

At least it had proven effective in stopping Ashtari from bothering them after that. He gave the flyer one

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