"Are you allergic to the sun?"
"No, just enchanted by the night."
Shakirat Asad, or simply Kira, has been enraptured by history and consumed by untold stories. Now an international student hellbent on finishing her last semester for her master's deg...
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╒═════ ☽【☥】☾ ═════╕ Chapter One ╘═════ ☽【☥】☾ ═════╛
The sound of crying could be heard in the distance as Shakirat wiped the sweat off her brow. The dig site was full of grieving families ready to receive the remains of their loved ones from their shallow graves. She looked up to see two sets of eyes peering down into her unit, fresh tears threatening to fall. Shakirat felt her threatening to give way, but she refused to let them fall as she returned to her pile of sediment. She scraped her trowel against the dirt, unearthing a fragile skull from its depths. She took an old paint brush from her kit and began to brush it off with delicate precision.
"What is it?"
Shakirat looked over to find her close friend Jacqueline leaning over her with the same sadness all the archaeologists carried. Her long blonde hair was swept up into a tight bun as her gloved hands came to sweep the remaining debris from the mandible. Shakirat pulled out her identification sheet as Jacqueline took a picture of the skull followed by measurements. Once the necessary location information had been recorded Shakirat took the skull out and placed it into a padded box.
"Male with a single posterior gunshot wound to the partial bone," Shakirat replied. "His teeth suggest early to late teens, but Dr. Stone will be able to give a more precise age once dental records are compared."
Jacqueline nodded, "I'll let her know."
Shakirat could do nothing, but stare as the box was removed from her lap along with the contents of the unidentified boy. She watched numbly as the skull was passed over to one of their unit mates, Seeley Clark, to be taken to the identification tent. The boy was handsome in a dirty farmer's way as he patted his overalls down. He adjusted his cowboy hat on his head before taking the remains carefully in his arms. He looked over at Shakirat in worry, but she waved him off, and he did as he was told.
Another victim of a horrible war had been found and Shakirat wasn't sure how much her heart could take. She leaned back for a moment, careful not to disturb the sides of her unit, as she held her head in her hands. She wanted nothing more than to give the family in front of her their loved one back. They deserved that after the horrors they had seen, but they weren't the only ones searching for an answer to an unasked question.
