War

• Katia Al Fazzaa, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2021

You could see, and feel the pain in that young girl's eyes. You could clearly tell how much trauma she had been through.
It all started in 2011 when Syria experienced one of their most violent and unexpected wars.
Many innocent girls went missing and so many of the young boys were forcibly taken away from their families, to serve in the war.
There were a large number of children who lost their parents, due to the bombing and shooting. Those children had to live alone on the streets because not many people could afford to help them. Thousands of families tried to escape by reserving a boat and sailing to the country that they were determined to live in, but most of the time, they would get scammed and the people who they trusted to keep their boat safe would shoot it and let it sink. Sadly, some people would drown, but fortunately others would have the strength to swim back to shore. A small number of lucky people had the chance to travel in a plane, but that was rare and very expensive.
When those families and people escape the war, they enter a new country, a country where they don't know anything or anyone. They have nobody to support them other than the government that provides money for them.
These families slowly begin to realise that if they don't stand up for themselves, nobody else will, because other people will only stand up for those who they know. Life isn't easy for them, but deep inside, they know that God has plans for them.