Transcendence (A Muslim-Christian Story)

Chapter 20: Stay

When I returned to the living room with Isa, I saw mama throwing her head back with laughter.

"What's so funny, mama?" I asked her.

"Oh, Sebastian here was just narrating a few incidences from his childhood. He was a very naughty boy!"

"Really? I find that very hard to believe!" I said, raising my eyebrows at Sebastian.

"Oh and look, he's got a picture of himself when he was just as little as our Isa... Here" She hands me an old picture.

"Doesn't he look exactly like Isa?"

I observed the photograph. Sebastian looked around 3 years old and looked exactly... Like I mean almost a clone of Isa! I was really surprised.

"Wow! The resemblance is really uncanny!"

"It really is! At least now I know our Isa will grow up to become one handsome hunk. Hopefully he has you brains as well, son!" Mama says looking at Sebastian.

I saw Sebastian lower his head and turn red. He looked so funny.

"Er.... Thank you, aunty."

We all then sat around the table and enjoyed our lunch.

After lunch, Isa started getting easily irritable and I knew it was time to put him to sleep.
Sebastian showed me the way to his room and left to join mama in the living room.

I laid beside Isa and hummed "La ilaha illal Allah, Muhammad ar rasool Allah..."

He soon drifted to sleep.

I went back to the living room where mama and Sebastian were discussing something serious, by the looks of their faces.

"He wasn't crucified. Allah raised his body and soul to heaven and instead they killed a man who Allah had made to resemble Prophet Jesus." Mama said.

She turned towards me and said, "Oh, you're here. We were just discussing about Prophet Isa (may peace be upon him). We were waiting for you to come since I've learned that Sebastian here is a painter as well and has a room solely dedicated to this hobby of his. Come on, let's go see!" Mama said, nudging me to get up.

Sebastian led the way to his art room.

It was a very large room with a high ceiling. Since it was on the back side of the house, one wall was completely made of glass and the rest of the walls were completely covered with his paintings.

I'm no art expert, but I could tell he used several different techniques.

"Are these all your pieces?" I asked him.

"Yes, the ones here have all been painted by me. The ones outside in the halls and the living room are not mine though."

I moved around, observing each of them slowly. He was like a wellspring of creativity.

There was a painting made completely out of Chinese letters and it was breathtaking.
"What's the story behind this one?"

"It's a honey badger, drawn entirely out of Chinese words that I found difficulty while learning Mandarin."

"Why did you choose to draw a honey badger?" I asked incredulously.

"It's just that honey badgers are considered to be the bravest animals out there. They never give up and put up a fierce fight even when they're attacked by animals much larger than them. At that point of time, I felt like giving up Mandarin, it was too difficult. But this helped me stay strong. It aided me better in retaining those words I found difficulty in. I've used this technique for other languages as well."