Short Story: Mullah Nusruddin's father in law gives him some major headaches in his life, but which turned out for him to be a blessing in disguise.

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The Mullah's father in law was staying in their house, with him, his wife, and his daughter, for an extended visit. His wife had died a year, or two, back, and it was hard for him to cope with his living on his own now. Fatima, the Mullah's wife, had convinced the Mullah, to let her father stay with them for a while. After all, she had promised the Mullah, it will be only for a few short weeks, at the very most. Six months had now gone by, though, and the Mullah had less than just a little patience left now. He had lost most all of whatever patience he had ever had. And he had always prided himself on his being a very patient man. He was the most patient man in his village, (at least this was how he thought, in his own mind). Some of the villagers called his patience weakness, though, as he had no backbone to stand up to his wife; others just said that he was a bit simple witted, or plainly just stupid. But the Mullah saw the old man, his father-in-law as being such a huge pain, in the neck, for himself. The old codger was existing now with no brains at all, (that is, if he ever had any to begin with) and he also noted his father-in-law's muddle-headed, clandestine, creepy way, as to how he went about doing everything and anything. The Mullah's daughter had bought the old man a tablet computer, so that he might entertain himself a bit, rather than him, just following the Mullah around in his works, which pestered, and annoyed, the Mullah, no end. The old guy infuriated the Mullah, with his gross stupidity of action. He would fixate on things, and not budge, until nudged. He was beginning to spend too much time on his new tablet, and the Mullah's wife was upset with the Mullah because of this, not with the old man himself. For after all, how could she get upset with her own father? But with the Mullah, she was always getting upset with him. Just the same though, she caught her father trying to deceive her, time and time again. If he heard her going past his room, he would mute his tablet, put it under his pillow, and pretend that he was just napping. Mullah's wife wanted him to go for a walk sometimes, to get some sun, on his old skin, to do something, other than just watch U-Tube on his tablet. So, Mullah was pleased now about this turn of events. The father in law was now picked on, rather than himself, by his wife. The Mullah got up early one morning to perform his prayers, rituals, and meditations. It was still dark. It was only 4 am, in the morning. The Mullah walked down the hallway in his house, going to his own study room, and he spied a light on in his father-in-law's room, and some muffled noise coming underneath the door too, as well as the telltale light. Delighted, the Mullah went back to his own bedroom, and he woke up his wife. "Your father is on his you-tube right now, dear," he said. "He is really addicted to it, and he is still using it behind your back, even instead of sleeping. That is why he always looks tired, and has half-closed eyes, and is too tired to go even for a daily walk." Fatima got up quickly, steam blowing her along, coming from her ears. She let the old man have such a blast of her anger, that he would be feeling it for the next week, or two. The Mullah smiled to himself, cunningly. "That's a lot of anger that won't be coming my way this week. Maybe it is a good thing for me to have her father living here with us, after-all," he mused, to himself quietly. The Mullah had wanted to get his father-in-law in trouble so that it would deflect the gun from being pointed in his own direction anymore. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com The father in law did like to sneak out to the communal watering hole though, for a drink, or two, or three...