Where The Sky Meets The Sand Chapter 1.4

Sacre Couer Paris

That day Michelle and Kashfiya was walking briskly maneuvering between a crowd of people who had just finished mass from a Parisian church, Kashfiya's eyes were sparkling with exitment. "I want to introduce you to someone, he's waiting at the cafe around the corner."

"Who is it?" Michelle asked excitedly.

Suddenly a flash of memory passed her eyes of a man in a black veil.

"Tell me Kashfi, who is it?" Michelle asked.

Once they arrived at the coffee shop, they headed to a table where a man was waiting, Kashfiya took the seat beside him, then introduced him to Michelle, "This is Robert"

Robert observed Michelle, then smiled as extended his hand, and she shook his hands gently.

Kishfiya beamed up again,"Robert is my latest boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you," Robert's eyes staring into Michelle's.

Michelle, bowed her head down to avoid eye contact. "I've heard a lot about you for sometime now."

"I know that," the young man said while glancing at Kashfiya.

Robert felt dazzled but appreciative by  beauty of Michelle.

"So are you really intending to go to Kashfiya's country to teach the children there?"

Michelle says "Yes, I really do intend to".

Robert had a solemn expression then asked a serious questions "Have you thought it over properly, Mademoiselle?"

"Please call me Michelle."

"Michelle, okay"

Kashfiya grinned "Robert wants to get married here in Paris," she said. "But we cannot do that."

Robert retorted with a lot of frustration, "Why not?"

Kasfiya  explains, "Because ... I  need to do something else. I have to go back to my country. "

Robert threw the  question "Is there anything more important than love?"

"Yes,"

"I do not understand nothing in the world is more important than love. Only love can make people do anything, "Roberto said.

Michelle interrupts "Love has many sides, love is not just between man and woman only. "

Roberto protested serious attitude, "but the most important love is of man and woman. I would do anything for love ".

"Michelle are you going to help me with Robert?" Kashfiya asked in frustration.

"Are you?" There was a small saprkle in Robert's eyes. As for Michelle, she felt fortunate that Kashfiya did not see it.

Michelle nodded her head gently and said seriously, "I know that in Kasfiya's country. Study is intended for boys only. "

"Yes, while there is some progress, but most people in my country do not have access to it. But with Michelle's help, we hope that we can actually have a  faster development."

"Lets make it come true" Michelle said firmly. "I want to know more about your country. I'm not going to let my life go to waste. I'm ready to fight for a meaningful life." The French-Asian mix eyes sparkled.

Morocco's Sahara Desert sand dune

Michelle couldn't sleep that night. Amazingly she had the same dream again. It was a vast desert stretching until the blue horizon. She was lost in the desert, she was alone, suddenly a man in black robes appeared as if from the far horizon.

Michelle moved restlessly in her bed.

In the dream, his robes and veils were flapping in the wind.

"Help me, please, help me, I'm lost."

He came closer to her, his face covered by the veil, "Help me, help me....." She pleaded, "Help me, I'm lost."

He held out his hand, it was covered by a equally black glove (ES: gloves? In the desert? Oh well...). Michelle, caught his hand then looked up at his covered face. She could only see his sharp brilliant eyes.


"You're going to be alright, I have found you right here."

Their hands hold together firmly.

"Will you help me, huh?. I am a nobody, but I need your help " the orphaned girl cried.

A few moments later, she and the man were walking hand in hand across the desert.

"Where is this?"

"This is the dream planes."

She looked around, but they were there all alone.

A few moments later, they were standing face to face, looking at each other. Now she can see his face in the shadows.

He gave her a caution, his voice echoing throughout the desert, "The desert is a dangerous place, you have to be alert and careful."

"Yes I will do as you say."

"I will take care of you, I will protect you...."

"Who are you? What's your name...?"

"My name is........."

Suddenly Michelle, felt somebody shaking her body, she jerked up from her bed, to see Kashfiya sitting beside her. "Michelle." She said, "Michelle, you had a nightmare."

Michelle was now wide awake "Hmm ..." eyes turned to her firend. "Kashfiya ... I ... was dreaming again, it was that dream again"

"About what?" Kashfiya asked.

Michelle does not look like she was fully conscious.

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BAMQ Chapter 15 Notice

Hi Guys,

This week you will have to bear with me a bit for the translation. You see, for somebody like me whose Chinese vocabulary is limited to “Wo Ai Ni” translating Chinese novels chapters at a time can be frustrating. There are a lot of gray matter and imagination involved, and sometimes it just gets overwhelming. To give you an example I have to turn this:

That cold cold of blamed tone, makes Ji Qing full grievance rushed up, is around find not to vent export, abruptly hold has back, she not knows the how with seal Jincheng explained these, too trivial, say, even she explained has, doubted seal Jincheng will think she in sophistry, and children sick is facts, facts before, she said what are extra, only this unit grievance hard hold has back, can orbital is couldn't help began some Misty, that share moisture, fundamental cannot control.

Into this:

Hearing him blaming her, Ji Qing filled up with grievance, she looked around to find a way not to vent her anger, trying hard to hold herself back. She didn’t know how to start explaining the situation to Jin Cheng. And even if she tried, she doubted that Jin Cheng will believe her. The fact is the child is lying there sick. She felt a misty haze building in her eyes, she was losing her self-control.

As you see I do not literally translate, I paraphrase the paragraph, so you would need to excuse the deviation from the original author’s writing style, but I do my utmost to keep the content intact. Just think of me as a script writer adapting your favorite book into a drama :P.

Why am I writing this? Because the translation of Chapter 15 on the engines is somewhat screwed, so I have to pick deeply into my “right side of the brain” to make sense of it.

Okay, back to my Word Document now, wish me luck................

25th Anniversary The Alchemist