9. The Howling Wind
She woke up to the sound of the alarm for a prayer, feeling loved. Usually she always rose up right away, but this time sat on the mattress in a warm reflection of yesterday.
“Sister, come on.” Aliya reminded her friend.
“Of course, I am sorry.” Throughout the day, she lost her mind, finding herself in embarrassing situations. Even Sabihah grew mad at herself, but still could not stop it. While in school she asked a girl who had the most knowledge of the outside world and frequently told stories:
“Do you know what ‘baby’ means?”
“Baby, ha? Where did you hear that?” the girl made everyone laugh around with that ‘you got a lover’ expression on her face.
“I..don’t remember, maybe on the radio. Could you tell me?”
“Was that a male dictator that told you ‘baby’ by any chance?” Explosions of laughter rang around again.
“Hmm, maybe.” Sabihah played along.
“Well then, you got a lover. Now you got to call him back and say baby too. Baby is what the westerners call someone that they like.”
“Thank you.” Sabihah modestly replied, her eyes sparkling, before the teacher ordered them to come back to class.
The wind has been howling for a while now, and all the students hurried home earlier, slightly panicking. As the schoolgirls walked out, Sabihah glanced at that wall where he stood yesterday, as if by instinct. “What are you doing? You know he won’t be there.” She screamed at herself inside. Unlike the crowd that quickly disappeared around her, Sabihah liked the wind. They both had something in common today. She thanked the wind for giving her some time, and walked away into seclusion, far from all the houses. She leaned on the bark of a tree, sitting in dust. Her dress was fastened so that no sand could get in. Dust danced in front of her, and wind sang something comforting. She had to answer back,
"Love is so selfish. We must not be focused on it, better even if we forget it. There're so many duties we have. So much good we can do for others, why forget yourself in the hands of another? Suffer longing for somebody's touch or voice, when we could apply ourselves for the society's good? Love's place is in free time, when there's no one else around. But these are no free times, at least not here. And so many people need help. Love for only one person is egoistic." The wind carried away her worries and troubled thoughts: she felt light and alive again. She forced herself through the wind, laughing, it could have almost blown her away, but she safely returned home to do her chores.
“Where were you, Sabi? I lost you after school. I wanted to go outside and look for you, but mom didn’t let me.”
“Oh, I just like the wind.”
“You’re not afraid of it?”
“No, Aliya, I am not afraid of many things now.”
“Wow, I wish I could be brave like you. And now that power is out, what can we do?”
“I have an idea. There’s something I must say goodbye to.”
“Sister, you’re so strange today.”
“I will tell you why, as long us we keep it a secret, alright?”
“Yes, of course.” After a candlelight dinner, in its darkest and poorest form, the two friends sat around a candle with matches.
“Ahh...I wish this candle was a big warm fire.”
“We can imagine anything, sis. Let’s make this night a magic one.” She smiled, her eyes glinting with tears in the faint light.
“What is wrong, Sabi?”
“They are tears of joy.” The girls sat closer to each other, sharing the warmth. “Now, can you read this?” She handed Aliya a crumpled piece of paper.
“Do not regret it.” She slowly sounded out before Sabihah translated the meaning. “Where did you get it from?”
“Remember that man in the uniform that said goodbye to our family? His name is Brian. He wrote this after…well, after we told each other that we fell in love.” Her friend gasped in response.
“Wait…how is that possible? And why did you even take that thing with you?”
“Exactly, I shouldn’t have taken it. But shhh, calm down a little bit. No one must know.”
“But, I don’t understand! It’s ridiculous.”
“And that is exactly why I am burning this.” They watched the little note curl and blacken in the yellow flame and those words finally disappeared.
“Aliya, you must listen, don’t judge me too soon. Imagine yourself in my place.” Aliya gazed at Sabihah chanting, still puzzled.
“No more empty hope, no more trusting into something temporary, for when it is gone, you will lose yourself too.”
And the following night, Sabihah told Aliya of her first yet strange love. The ritual was over, the soul was cleansed and everything was ready for a new start, for the new age of changing the community around without being attached to something foreign. And she thought it would be easy.
10. A White Flag
Coming from heaven, Brian was struck by war sounds in the distance. The war base was no longer a hideout, but a battlefield. Before joining in, Brian took Sabihah’s note from his pocket, pressed it against his heart for a second and then replaced it with bullets. He stopped the truck about two meters from the building, but even in that short distance, one of the enemies shot him in the leg.
“Hello Jimmy! Now hand me one of your best guns.”
“You’ve returned in time Lieutenant. What happened with your leg, sir?”
“Don’t worry about it. So they’ve spotted our location.”
“Yes and I have no idea how those bastards did it.”
“It’s no brainer, since we’re all over the TV.”
“Are you sure you are ok and don’t need a bandage?”
“Jimmy, yes I am ok, now let me be before I get shot at again.”
He stiffened his teeth from pain, and every time he fired, it hurt even more. Both sides were equally well armored. Strong wind rose, making even the masked men cough, so fine was the sand. The enemies started throwing bombs, and one into Brian’s truck. And not too far in the distance, a white piece of paper floated.
“Quick, get the tanks. And inform the air force.” Brian ordered as blood soaked his pants.
Strangely, before the American tanks closed in on the Middle Eastern ones, firing and maneuvering to form a barricade, a piece of paper floated in between the two sides, like a white flag. The fighting seized for a while, finally giving Brian a chance to bandage his leg. Many held their breath in awe, unbelieving that the battle finished just because of a note. The graceful Arabic letters especially caught the eye of some Arabs.
“What is it? Whom does this belong to?”
“It’s not from any of our soldiers sir; it must be a message from the Americans.” The young lad snatched the paper out of the air and stood in the middle of the opposing troops, reading. The words gripped his heart, they filled him with so much emotion, that he didn’t even feel how a bullet sliced through him. He fell to the dirt, leaving a dust cloud. A split second later the battle continued.
“Why did you fire at him?” Lieutenant Brian demanded with tragic disappointment.
“Why shouldn’t I have? He shouldn’t have stood there in the first place!”
“Don’t you see? That note was a sign for peace!”
“What peace?! Now that they came for us, we can’t let any of those terrorist dogs loose.”
“They are not all terrorists.”
“Whatever, you’re lucky I don’t shoot ya lieutenant”, he chuckled.
The Americans got an easy victory when the air force dropped a bomb on the Middle Eastern troops. The few injured were transported to the hospital while the rest celebrated at the supply base with proud general who never even showed up at the battle.
Brian felt neither pride, nor victory as he lay beneath white covers. Absorbed in thoughts, he ignored the warm glances of a young nurse that cared for him. Slightly ashamed by his cold stare, she walked back awkwardly and returned this time with a careful smile.
“Hello, how are you feeling? Here, I brought some water.”
“I don’t even know…I lost the sense of calmness I always had.”
“What worries you so much?”
“Why can’t there be peace? Even when there’s chance for it, someone always has to put an end to it.”
“I understand what you mean; it’s the big question, ‘why can’t everybody just get along?’”
“By the way, what is your name?” He looked at the girl with highlights in her dark hair and very tired eyes.
“Marline. And yours?”
“Brian.”
“But how do you, being in the very heat of war ask about peace when you’re a part of the fighting force, and not peace troops?”
“Today was the first time that I wanted it, that I even considered peace.”
“Why?”
“It’s a long story you might not believe, but shortly said, there was a minute when both sides stopped. And it felt so serene, why couldn’t it have lasted? Why are we in such haste to kill each other when all of us are human beings?” His words lighted passion in her eyes; she nodded, supporting him a hundred percent.
“Miss Marline, did you inform him?” A forty-year-old doctor intruded.
“No, but I will Mrs. Chalice.” The woman dismissed the young nurse’s promise.
“Excuse me, she has a tendency to talk and entertain the patients, forgetting the most important.”
“Oh, no it’s fine with me.” Brian defended his new friend.
“Now, let us get to the point. Lieutenant, your leg was left unattended for a very long time. It should’ve been treated right away, well at least bandaged that is.”
“It was in the middle of a battle. I…”
“Please, I do not want any unnecessary details or excuses.”
“I would have been killed if I stopped for a moment to save my leg.”
“There’s no need to teach me war. Someone might have done it for you while you were shooting. Anyways, if you’d like to know if you’ll even ever walk, please listen.”
“All right.”
“Since your leg was hit by a bullet, many veins shattered, and through the open hole, as I imagine a lot of dust got in, infecting it. We’ve cleaned out the wound, but the leg is not functional since a big part of it is now dead tissue. We have to amputate. It is the best option we have.”
“I am ready for an operation.” He quickly responded without a thought. The modern medicine dulled the pain, but not completely. However it was not the physical that tortured him the most, but something from the soul, or the mind, or both. He missed Sabihah.
