A WORK IN PROGRESS

I am currently working on an child-adult fiction 'Shadows far away'. The book is in progress and I feel proud to say that I am done with three pages, they might seem small but one small step is a giant leap towards success. I really wish that you guys take your time and take small glimpse of my story and post some comments. This is small extract form my story:

CHAPTER 1:

LUCY (5 YEARS OLD)

The light of the last rays of sun were shining brightly on the bare land, where there was a war hit recently. I sat in the corner of road on a cut down tree trunk. I could see the blood stains all over the place, which wasn’t like this before. As it got darker I got up, and headed towards my house. It’s not too far from here, maybe a 5 minute walk. Going home I thought about how many days I am going to survive in here? Day by day the situation of the city is going worse than before. I live in a small house in Gaza with my mother. I open the back door of house and take a step forward, it felt like that something was wrong in the house. I looked around in the house looking for mama from room to room. In mamas bedroom I find her sitting on rocking chair looking outside the window. She is thin and tall, with perfect long brown wavy hair and a pretty face. I knock thrice on the door.

“Mama. Are you alright?”

“Lucy. You’re home I was worried about you? How many times I have got to tell you not to go out without me. You are only five right now.”

“Mama I am okay. You don’t have to worry about me, what’s for dinner tonight?”

“Spaghettis with your favorite sauce.”

We always dinner together in the living room, while watching news on a small TV, which is in the corner on the living room.

Today’s headlines showed the places which have been attacked and it also included the place where I sat today. It showed many other places I know and some of them were the parks where I went with my parents before the war.

The main headline of today is: Eight Palestinians were killed by the Israeli security forces, and one person killed by Israeli civilians. In the same time one Israeli civilian and two members of the Israeli armed forces were killed by Palestinians.

This is not an unusual type of news for us now. Mostly every day we are getting this type of news. It really feels sick because now I cannot just go out and play with my friends and have a walk around my favorite park and this war has broken my contact with many of exciting activities by which I pass my time with, now all that’s left for me to do is wake up, do breakfast, go to school, study, come back from school, eat lunch, listen to some music, read book, go out to my favorite place(where I am not allowed to go now), com back home, eat dinner and go to sleep. It’s always the same every day.

After dinner mama go to kitchen for washing dishes and I go to my room to sleep. I have got a small cramped room with a single poster bed with white bedsheet and quilt over it, at the corner of the room by the window with a view of a destructed part of city which was really beautiful some days before. On the other side of the room is a brown wooden study table and an attached bookshelf which is totally filled with books. On the wall above the study desk are a lot of posters of some people I don’t even know, I just wanted my room to look filled up.

I get changed into my pink sleeping dress with black dots all over it, which my grandmother bought for me two months ago. Pulled myself down on bed and go to sleep immediately.

I wake up at night because of a loud bursting sound out of the window. I look out of the window and see fire on a house which is next to my friend Julia’s house. “Oh no terrorists”, the words came automatically out of my face. I slipped out of my bed when suddenly my bedroom door opened and mama came into the room with terror on her face, “come on Lucy we need to go into the basements”.

I run towards the basement after my mother. In the basement it’s really hot and suffocating. The house basement is covered with dull gray wallpaper and is so deep and dirty which doesn’t sounds good for anyone. It’s like no one has visited basement since the last attack, we only use basements to hide ourselves. After waiting for about an hour we walked out hoping that everything will be set down and normal. And it is outside that house there is a fire extinguisher car and a lot of people around the house.

On the way back to my room I hear the doorbell ring and run for the door. I open the door and find our street security in his house dress maybe he went to his house today, “Can I talk to Miss Cassandra”.

“Mom there is someone calling you on the door” I called out to mama.

After a few seconds mama emerges from behind.

“Mam due to some rough circumstances, you have got to leave this house as soon as possible” he handed mom a paper, “it is a guide to a safe place where you will get a place to live and don’t forget to take the papers of this house with you or they won’t give you anything”.

“But it’s not possible to move so early what am I going to do with all my stuff” says mom.

“Mam you have got to leave everything here, in the new place you will be provided with everything.”

“Okay”, my mother said to the security guard and closed the door behind her.

Both of us head towards our bedroom and I am so tired so I get in my room, close the door, lay on the bed, and try to sleep but I don’t know why but sleeping right now is being a lot difficult for me. The only thing occurring to me right now is that for how many more days I am going to live in this world. My friend Julia has gone to London to her grandmother with her parents. She is so lucky that she is living a safe life now, but me over here is just so worried about my life, what am I going to do? It didn’t even go 5 minutes when I find myself asleep.

The first thing I notice the next morning is bright sunlight on my face passing through the pink curtains. It took me some time for my eyes to become accustomed to the daylight. OH NO its Monday school today. I get up wash my face, brush my teeth and get downstairs for breakfast. “Mama! It’s Monday I have got to go to school”, I call out to mama.

“I know honey! breakfast is ready I am making pancakes for you come in the kitchen”, I hear mama calling out from kitchen. In the kitchen I find mama working on stove with pancakes. The smell of the pancakes make my stomach growl.

I pretend to help mom doing some work but I don’t do anything except for moving here and there. When the breakfast is ready we eat it silently on a small dining table with four chairs inside the kitchen. Mom help me get changed into a ping t-shirt with a unicorn on it and she leaves my hair open with a pink hairband over them. I wear my blue frozen bag on my shoulders and mama drive me to school. Probably a 5 minutes’ drive.

Day by day school is being empty some of the students are taking school off because of security options, some are probably been killed and some have left the country. Firstly I had a large group of friends probably of 12-13 girls but now we are only 3. Anna, Brenda and me. These days we only spend our time playing and learning about precautions for safety. The schools head teacher mam Kelly visited our class 5-6 times to tell us again and again that we are being evacuated from Palestine to a safe place after one week and she handed us 1 large sized envelope each and told us to give to our parents. At break time I stay with my two best friends and at home time 12:30 mama pick me up from school.

“How was your school today? “, She asked.

“Fine”, I say.

I handed the letter to mama.

“Is it from school? “, She asked

“Yeah” I say.

“I have got a really excited news for you, I will tell you as we reach home” Say mom.

I don’t know why but mama was looking like she can burst any moment now with happiness. She didn’t smile this much from the day dad died.

On the way mama bought things for making enchiladas.

At home I helped mama making enchiladas and served everything in the T.V launch with an animated movie named big hero 6. While eating mama opened up the envelope and started reading a letter from school.

“What is it about? “, I ask after a few minutes of her reading.

“Your school is evacuating you to a safer place”.

“Where are they going? “, I ask.

“It’s stated that anywhere from Canada, New York, London or Paris”.

I have never been on an airplane and I think these places are too far to go by cars or trains or buses or ships and why are they taking too far. There are many places near Palestine which are safe. But I have got my grandmother in New York, I can stay with her and I have got Aunt Marie in Paris, which would also be fine.