Missing residence card

Bad Dream

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Vic: Late afternoon, work was over for the day, in the carpark met a friend, Ali. Said I was taking a friend’s old Chevy into Al Khobar for some maintenance. “Take care,” said Ali.

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Mustafa: Sounds like an omen.

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Vic: It was. I drove this old rusty car to the back gate of Aramco and usually you just go through showing your pass. But a man in a white thobe flagged me off to the side. Your iqama, English,” he requested.

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Mustafa: He called you English?

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Vic: Just like in Lawrence, yeah. Anyway, I couldn’t find my Saudi residence card. Looked through wallet, bag, everything. The police in the thobe just sat at a table drinking chai. Then I woke up.

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Voice-over

Concerns about travel, lockdown, quarantine clearly lurk in the night metamorphosing into worrisome dreams.

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