King of Prestige Land

  • 31 Jul - 06 Aug, 2021
  • Salaar Laghari
  • Fiction

Abraham’s Reign

Now Abraham was finally the king. He was given the king’s crown but he refused to wear it openly in public, unlike his brothers. He was forty two when he took over.

He had plenty of work to do. His elder brothers had left the state polluted with trash, and now it was his job to clean the entire state. His pure intentions towards the island were not known to anybody. Although I knew he would do something revolutionary.

The very first day when Abraham became the king, he went towards the closet of his room. His wife Courtney was in the same room and she asked him,

“What are you looking for?”

Abraham took out a huge bundle of pages from inside the closet and said,

“I won’t sleep tonight. I have to make some very important plans.”

“You were reading these pages few days back as well. What are these?”

“These are my plans. What I need to do in these two years, everything is written down here.”

“Oh, okay.”

“My dear, please go and sleep. I will sit in another room, and I won’t sleep. Just go, please…”

“Okay.”

One hour later, as Abraham had assembled all the pages together, he talked to himself quite loudly. I was standing behind him and I could listen to him while he was speaking,

“I need to make some instant decisions this week. I cannot delay what my brothers had done in the past…justice.”

He held a pencil in his hand and a blank white paper. He wrote something on it, I walked ahead to see what exactly he was writing. As I got closer, I saw that he had written,

“A revolution with absolutely no bloodshed is needed.”

**************

The first week of Abraham’s reign was beyond what anyone could have expected, including me. This week was a really fast moving one as instant moves really shocked everyone. Majority of the people were happy but influential citizens were very upset and angry.

Abraham in the first two days reopened all the previous pending and dismissed trials. A long list of cases was released and all the newspapers published this. I saw delightfulness on the faces of people with my own eyes, and this really gave me hope of better days coming.

Abraham released his economic strategy on the third day which made everyone happy as it sounded very much convincing to them. He had increased the export of different stuff that he knew was very much in demand. Inflation and taxation were reduced drastically, but I personally did not agree with this decision to be honest.

The syllabus of schools was redefined within one day and it was changed almost completely. Subjects with trickery were replaced and the core subjects were also revised. I don’t know about myself but the general public was very satisfied with this mere decision.

The roads and public places that were destroyed during the previous times were also supposed to get reconstructed again as Abraham personally gave contracts to some of the experienced builders. New buildings were not meant to be constructed immediately as Abraham believed in saving money of the people.

The decision of sixth day of the week was something indescribable. All of his brothers who were appointed as governors were not replaced but asked to resign from their posts. This decision enraged Austin and Thomas but Jacob somehow convinced them to obey the orders of the current king. This gave birth to a fire of vengeance in Austin.

Abraham could not really rely on anyone so he appointed himself as the governor of every post required. It was hectic but Abraham was a man of courage. I remember he used to stay up all night and work. This also affected his marriage life, but his integrity was priceless for him.

The second week was spent in implementation of some of his orders. Since Abraham monitored everything under his own supervision, therefore, nobody dared to do corruption; or else they knew they would lose their jobs immediately along with punishments.

**************

Within one month, all the trials were resolved. Why? Because Abraham had a strong decision making power. He was a man of vision. His vision was to see his state clean and stainless. Obstacles and hurdles never stopped him from anything.

The first case that was resolved was Silver’s case, the guy who ruthlessly killed a defensive mother of two kids. These were the words heard in the court that made everyone happy,

“Silver is sentenced to death.”

There was an air of excitement at Prestige Land for an entire week, once Silver was punished. However, Austin was more than just angry on this.

Then after a few days, the case of the library was finally concluded. The irresponsible staff that was responsible for the fire was not only terminated from the job, but they were sentenced for twenty years’ of imprisonment.

Likewise, the ones responsible for circus event were also punished for five years imprisonment. But all kinds of circuses and stage theatres were banned and Abraham labelled them as ‘Waste of Time and Effort’. Many disliked it, but majority were happy about it.

The case of the angry mob that killed the palmist was kept on hold by Abraham as he believed that it required more evidences.

One day, Abraham was put on a test, by fate. I believed that he was going to back out, because after all he was a human. But I’m glad to say that I was wrong.

Abraham’s brother in law committed a theft. He was caught publicly and there were more than twenty people who witnessed his crime. The police did their job of arresting him, but the general public was raising a question that would Abraham be as honest and fair as he had been before.

Courtney was quite worried but she had faith in her husband that he wouldn’t break her heart by punishing her brother. Thomas and Frederick were convincing Courtney to talk to her husband or else he might destroy the family reputation.

Despite differences of opinion among the family members and general public, Abraham gave his final verdict as per stated in the constitution,

“The convict has been proved to be guilty; therefore, he has to return the stolen amount and shall be imprisoned for two years.”

Only this news needed to be spread in the state, and when it did, people believed that now there will be justice in their land. There was hope among people now and absolute hope that is. The truth was prevailing and people admired the honesty of their new king to such an extent that they started planning secretly against the future king.

**************

The day Courtney’s brother was sentenced imprisonment; she met Abraham during the night and asked,

“How could you do this to us?”

“Like I told you before, I am the slave of the state’s law. When it comes to justice, I simply cannot see anything.”

“Abraham, this is just too much. You have to take your sentence back or else we might have to end this marriage.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that but if you really want it then we can get divorced.”

Yes, this was Abraham. He did not care about his family life. His wife left him forever, not getting an official divorce. But Abraham was firm with his rules.

When this news spread among the citizens, the concerned people were upset for him but they encouraged his deed of staying with the truth.

This man was the hero of everyone. Although, there were some who disliked him but their opinion did not matter at all.

**************

One day, I left my house in a disguise as a news reporter had collected public opinion about the new king, although, six months had passed.

I asked people,

“What is your opinion about the new King Abraham?”

This was my question and the general public was answering it with their utmost interest. The comments that I can recall are,

“Long live King Abraham.”

“No kingdom like Abraham’s kingdom.”

“Abraham is not the king of Prestige Land, he is the king of everyone’s heart.”

“If honesty and discipline have a second name, it is Abraham.”

“Abraham is the name of peaceful revolution.”

“This state has finally gotten what it deserves and that is justice.”

“Someday Prestige Land would be among the top developed countries.”

I wish I could have published this in some newspaper but I couldn’t. However, the genuine news reporters had actually published the comments and it was quite enough for us.

Inside the castle, I saw Austin angrily tearing away the newspaper that had published positive comments about Abraham’s kingdom.

This can’t be happening.

I heard him say. Abraham cannot be better than me.

I cannot let people like him or else I won’t get power again.

“Say it louder so that I can hear you,” I taunted.

Austin looked at me and realised that I had heard everything he just said. He gave an expression of getting irritated and asked,

“What do you want?”

“I want you to be happy for your brother. He has restored your family’s reputation.”

“Are you out of your mind, old man? This dog has spoiled everyone’s reputation except for his own.”

“Watch your language Austin. This is no way to talk for you to speak to me.”

“You know what? Just go and leave me alone.”

“I’m leaving but I’ll say something here, you have no guts to face the truth.”

I left him, and while I was walking towards the exit I heard him screaming with anger.

**************

Several months later, during the second year of Abraham’s reign, Austin secretly called a meeting of brothers in the meeting room. They all were there except for Abraham. I wasn’t there, but I was told about what happened in this meeting.

Austin was leading this meeting and he opened with this statement,

“We have to do something about Abraham.”

“I agree,” Thomas added.

“He is trying to step ahead of us. He is doing what we never did, also what our father never did.”

“I however, think that we should not get hasty. Less than eight months are left. After this, his time will be over. Frederick will take over then.”

“No, absolutely not,” Austin disagreed. “He needs to resign now. I want him to step down from the throne, we have to force him somehow.”

“Austin!” Jacob said in between. “Don’t forget that Abraham never interfered in our matters. Whenever anyone of us made decisions…”

“…I don’t care,” Austin interrupted.

“Let me complete first,” Jacob warned him, “we all have been kings before, and nobody forced anyone to step down. Just let him spend the last few months, and then his time will be over.”

“I think he’s right,” Frederick said regarding Jacob’s opinion.

“It’s not about a few months” Austin insisted. “And you know what else. We all are criminals. We all had done some sort of corruption. If Abraham finds out this stuff, he might get us behind the bars.”

Jacob had no words now as he agreed with Austin on this.

**************

The remaining few months were as good as the previous ones. There was no corruption in the government level as well as in the private sectors.

Abraham had appointed some few people he trusted as governors, including me. We all were managing affairs of the state as per Abraham’s guidance and getting positive results.

Within few weeks, several government jobs were provided to the graduates and this delighted everyone. Even the corrupt officials decided to approach the way of honesty and discipline.

The revolution had occurred and had long lasting impact.

Abraham had given this state everything he could but in exchange he lost quite a lot according to us but not according to him. He lost the love and support of his brothers, he lost his wife and also his one and only son. He had no family but the entire state considered him to be their spiritual father.

During the last few months, he performed even better and gave this state something more, and that was knowledge of how to live a successful life without corruption. He gave public lectures on this topic which convinced the working citizens to proceed further with honesty.

It was finally the last week and Abraham gave a farewell to the citizens. People were not just upset but in fact, they were not willing to accept this that his throne time was over. They protested with public riots. What Abraham taught them, was it all wasted?

to be continued...

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