I had been pushing Mai on the swing and he appeared with his rucksack as if it is natural for him on his way home to look in on us in Regent's Park. `Yes it was a good talk,' I say. `A lot of people turned up so the organizers must have been pleased.' `I'll push the swing.' He drops his hag and takes my place. The playground is quiet today. The sky is cloudy and I wait for the first drops of rain. Above the treetops I can see the dome of the mosque with the chandelier bright through the glass. He says, `I liked the bit in the talk about the signs preceding the Day of Judgement and how people Centuries past used to feel that these signs were already coming true. They believed the end of the world was imminent and yet here we are.' `Maybe imminent can mean many years away.' It had been a good lecture, worth going to. Both Shahinaz and I enjoyed it - it shook us in a way. I say to Tamer, Some of these signs were spooky.' `Yes, the sun rising from the west and the animal that talks - that's pretty spooky.' He said it could be allegorical.' `I believe in it literally.' He catches hold of the swing, lifts it high up.
