Chapter one
“So as i said, if you are ever stuck under a massive chunk of building or in a situation like that, what would you do?” Mrs Khalil asked. Everyone shot their hands up eager to impress her but i kept my hand down. It was survival class, added to the curriculum 37 years ago so we could have even a small percentage of hope that we could survive but i didn’t believe it would help us. The soldiers carried around massive tavour x95 guns, colossal tanks that had what it seeme like unlimited ammo, whereas we carried around stones and sticks, anything that would maybe hurt a soldier or stun them for at least a minute while we took off to hide so we could live another day. I dont know why anyone would want to live another day to be honest. I just want to live free, free as a bird, free like- “ Laila, what is the answer?”I paused my thoughts and turned my attention to Mrs Khalil. “S-sorry miss what was the question?” I stuttered. “ Mmm not listening again are we? This lesson could save your life in the future but you are too busy daydreaming! Wallah you are making me go mad! Stay after class and we will have a little chat. Ya allah!” She ranted. I nodded my head respectfully and put my head down in shame. I could feel the students around me glance at me in disgust for not listening, whispering about how disrespectful i am, how i was a disappointment… *BELL RINGS* Everyone got up and formed a line in an ordinary fashion and silently left the room but not before glancing at me, some with a smirk plastered on their face , some with a pitiful gaze, as if they felt like the worst was about to happen to me. I hate it when people give that look.Once the room was empty i ambled to the teacher and sat down on the chair opposite her. She had a chat about how she knows i am upset about my sisters’ passing but that should not get in my way of survival , unless i wanted to end up that way too. Then, she patted me on the back and told me to go to my next lesson. I walked out the room, shocked she let me off that easy. I happily strolled to my next lesson with a smile on my face. But soon that smile faded away, after i saw somone walking up to where i was. I thought it was a teacher and i quickly started to walk on the left side, my back straight. But then i realized it was not a teacher no.. it was someone else . And that someone esle was my ememy. My enemy Eshal Shah. I looked down hoping to avoid her but she just walked right past me, as if i was not even there. Weird. I went into the lunch hall and got my lunch, and the smell of freshly baked bread , drizzled with fresh olive oil from the olive branch tree near the school, attacked my nostrils. Luxurious food like za’atar and kibbeh with white rice was a thing if the past and all we could afford now was bread. But still i could not hear anyone complaining. See around where i am from, everyone is extremely grateful for any type of food as long as it is edible as nowadays scraps of food are the luxuries we have at school and at home or on the streets.As i sat down to eat,my friend ,Nora tapped me and told me to sit with her because she needed to talk. I said ok but was a little confused as to why she was acting this way. I sat down and began to eat while listening to her plans. I dropped everything and stared at her when she announced that she was to leave for russia preferably in the next week or so. But that wasnt even the worst part. She said that after she moved to russia, she would have to delete my phone number and throw her phone away to prevent them from tracking her or me and she cant put it in her new phone either just in case. My life, already torn apart, slowly slowly got worse and worse and worse. First my sister, Hala, who was very close to me, dies, then my bff is leaving and i cannot contact her. I looked her dead in the eye and tood her what happens after she gets caught but she said it was already decided. “Im sorry but i want to live. I know you will miss me but this is the way it has to be.” Those words will forever haunt me. My already broken heart had now vanished completely, all the love, hope and happiness gone. Never to return. Ever. When school had finally finished, Layla walked home in sorrow, head down, deep in thought. If she got caught, she would instantly be killed and i could potentially get caught for knowing she was to escape. I tried not to think about it, as my mum had a sixth sense. This meaning she knew something would be bothering me even if i had no emotion on my face. Luckily, my mum was not home, so i sat on the broken, discombobulated couch, that used to be so comfy before the isrealis bombed us, hoping we would leave but we obviously didn’t. Normally if my mum wasnt home i would go to Noras house but she would be busy packing so i decided to take a nap, in the hope that my mum would be home by the time i wake up. I tried as hard as I possibly could to get a little shut-eye but i just wasnt going to sleep. I paced the empty, ruined hall , as i imagined it as it used to be. Beautiful, flowery designed wallpaper, brown wooden floorboards, a realistic family portrait that was painted before Hala, my sister, was killed in the bomb. Now, now it was just an empty ruin connected to a living room/kitchen/bedroom. Since the bomb, we have been living in the living room which we also use as a bedroom,kitchen and restroom. I was just about to go find my mum when she burst through the door with my father. “ Mama? Baba? Whats happening? Whats going on?” I ask “ We have to leave. Now.”
