On 17th July, the 4 minute flyers came rushing down from the israeli helicopters, reading "Be Aware! We Are Coming!" "Drejtuar!" shouted the Palistinian soilders, trying to alarm all the people of Palestine to seek shelter and to escape freedom *drejtuar means run in Arabic*
Laila Sheikh, an evacuee and the only daughter of dead parents, ran out with confusion and fear from her bombed house as she shivered and trembled. All she could see was the innocent and vunerable people running yet holding tight onto there beloved families. She felt the wind howling angrily as she tried to walk. She felt lonely, scared, and terrified as she wished she could have someone to hold onto.
Her light, floral, pink scarf loosened itself, by the howling wind. She held onto her scarf as tightly as possible. She tried to pass the crowds of running people but then...
Suddenly, she stumbled upon a stone, which caused her abaiya to tear from the bottom. Tears flood out of her hazel eyes.
Laila*
Even though i hurt my foot, i countiued to run...
Close near me, I could hear the gasp of an old lady as she grabbed my weak arm. Giving me directions and orders. The lady was destinating a place she called home and she knew it would be safe for now. We approched a damaged looking house as the lady pulled open the creacking door. The place was empty. No rooms. No food. No water. For a moment, I knew, we were NOT going to survive but then, all of a sudden...
She pulled a floorboard and invited me in. The lady commanded me to pull down the floorboard, as we started to hear the sound of eery bombings and gunshots...Along with screams and shouts of innocent people. She smiled at me and said "you can call this your home for NOW before it gets destroyed by the israeli soilders. " Blinks after she called this MY home I started to cry again. I hugged her as if i had some one there for me.
She gasped as she looked at my foot and pulled out a first aid box. She wiped the blood that was escaping from my skin.Then, she folded a bandage around my aching foot. She cried.
"Whats wrong?" I questioned to her. She replied "My son is gone to help evacuate innocent civillians as the israeli tanks are moving in to bomb the residential areas. I remember him being a kid and falling off his bike. This is exactly where he sat and this is exactly how i treated him. He will be back tonight. He promised me. " Once she was done with my foot, I thanked her continuously, but couldn't stop crying. I never knew love existed in this CRUEL and UNCARING world.
As we sat silently, hearing the screams and gunshots ,*as a distraction*, she asked me for my name "Laila sheikh", I tried to speak up, trembling. "Thats a beautiful name, for a beauty like you", she said as she placed a small, yet cosy blanket over me. I smiled,trying to ignore the pain of my foot and the horrific and scary events that were going outside. "Whats your name?" I asked. She replied quickly and said "Aminah, but you can call me mama." This made the force of my tears even stronger and the emotions ran high.
My eyes couldn't keep awake as they fluttered to sleep...
