Hope And Despair
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Sarah Massie, Grade 10
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Short Story
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2016
Most people wish to live an extraordinary life, to feel the rush of adrenaline over not knowing what's next to come. But for sisters Samira and Haniya living in war torn Afghanistan, all they yearned for was a normal life.
As the fighter planes soared overhead, the sound of dropping bombs ricocheted off the thin walls of the slum. Samira and Haniya cradled each other in their arms, shaking in fear and uncertainty.
“Will it ever stop?” Samira stammered, her voice barely a whisper.
“I wish I could tell you it will, but honestly I don't remember a day without not knowing if we’ll survive…who we will bury tomorrow? I lost every ounce of hope the day we found Baba (Father) and Mor( Mother) buried in the rubble…” Haniya confessed, closing her eyes as a single tear trailed down her cheek.
“I lost myself” Haniya continued her chest heaving rapidly with the revelation.
Samira looked over to her sister, recognising the despair in her glistening hazel eyes.
“This isn't the end you know? Only the end of a gruelling chapter in our lives. One day, not too far from now, all of this will be a distant nightmare”. Samira pleaded holding Haniya in her arms.
Haniya watched Samira intensely, waiting for her to continue.
“We’ll flee this dreaded country and begin the life, we were always destined for. We’ll get to go to school everyday, without the fear of the Taliban stopping us from getting an education”. Samira exclaimed, hope glistening in her eyes.
“Then one day, when the war is finally over, we’ll come back to our home and complete our dream. We’ll give the next generation, what we longed for, all those years…An education! To teach the bright young women of Afghanistan, there is so much more out there, than what we know”. Samira announced, a smile plastered across her face.
Haniya became fuelled by Samira’s excitement and exclaimed “And we’ll teach them how anything is possible, once you put your mind to it!”
The sisters looked across to each other and began to see the world in a new light…
…A