The fires had already gone out when the sun raised up. Every morning, birds used to sing and wake them up, but the birds were gone. They left when they lost the people they sang for, they used to sing for the ears of those who helped them, who fed them. But who could they sing for? The explosion scared them away, and they flew away to a land where they could sing.
The sun's rays hit Nodin's eyes and it woke him up. He didn't feel the child in his hand, as scared as he was, he stood up quickly and ran outside. There, she was standing looking at the endless sky. When he saw her, he got relieved. He had thought she was taken by someone, or maybe she was killed. The moment he took the kid, he made himself responsible for everything that happened to her.
"Good morning, when did you wake up?"
Nodin said.
The girl turned around and stared at Nodin. Her eyes were better than yesterday, she was a bit less gloomy, but the way she was looking seemed as if she was an adult, a hurt one. The look in her eyes changed drastically. As if she had grown up about twenty years in just one night.
She was still refusing to talk.
Nodin went to her and stood beside her.
"Feels like it all was a dream, huh?"
As he was patting her, he said.
She did not respond.
"We have to get out of here, my house is in the city over there."
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"What do you like for breakfast? You can choose between the flavors of the biscuits. Do you like biscuit?"
She didn't respond, instead placed her gaze upon him.
"Of course, given our situation liking or hating isn't much of a deal. Don't worry once we get there, you can choose whatever you want."
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"Come inside, we have to get ready."
They got ready to leave. Nodin didn't have any backpack so he used some the cloth left to put some supplies in. As he held the child's hands they left the village. The child was able to walk. She must have accepted the fact that war took her everything. While Nodin didn't wanted to believe, the kid who was holding a teddy bear had already accepted.
On the other side, the man and woman who were trying to get through the night had woken up. The woman was still crying as she was making something to eat.
"Hey! It's ready."
She gave him his share.
He was still sweating a lot. He hadn't consumed any pain killer and the pain was unbearable. Even when he was sitting he was wobbling and was about to lose his balance. The woman who was eating her share looked at him. She felt like she had seen her dead son. She knew she mustn't have done it but losing her child, the child who she gave her best to nurture, was burning her away as she was breathing.
She put down her meal and helped the man in front of him to eat his share.
"I don't need your help."
The man uttered.
"I don't do this for you."
She insisted on giving him the food.
"I said stop doing it, I'm not your husband who needs your assistance."
He was glaring at her, wanting her to stop showing her ridiculous kindness. The woman bit her lips, then looked him in the eye.
"I don't have a husband, that good for nothing loser is gone to some hell that I don't even care, and I don't have the time and energy to deal with your silliness. Yeah, you lost your hand, I lost my son. My very reason to exist is dead."
"I'm sorry."
"your condolence doesn't bring him back, instead eat this damn meal of yours and get well."
She helped him to eat, then went around to find something to change the piece of cloth that was covering his arm. The area was isolated, no one was there, not even the enemy. It was a wonder why no one had come for the survivors. Despite having few survivors, the government were supposed to send help.
When she came back, the man was sitting feeling ashamed of himself. He was embarrassed of what he had done. She had come back with something to help him and there he was letting out his anger on her.
"I'm truly sorry for my rude behavior."
The woman looked at him and sighed.
"It's fine. I'm used to men with temper."
She helped him again.
"What is your name, Ma'am?"
"Anna."
"I'm Eden."
"You got a nice name."
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"Why are you so quiet? Not throwing a tantrum?"
"I'm embarrassed. You even helped me with this and I said mean things."
"It's fine, it was a distraction for me not to hang up on yesterday."
"You are a kind-hearted woman; you have something I can barely even imagine."
"Where are your family? Were they living here, too?"
"No, they are in another country."
"They have luck, don't they?"
"Where should we go, Ms. Anna?
"There's a town nearby, we can head there. they must be welcoming people like us. Is it your first time here?"
"I came here last month for a research of mine."
"And then you got caught up in this mess. I don't think you can go back to your family right now. The situation is hard."
"And I don't want them to find out about my hand. I'd rather have them think I'm dead."
"You're a brat, no matter what your name is. How can you be so selfish, don't you know how much your mother is going through tight now? Not even knowing whether you're alive or not. Well that's no wonder since you have never been a mother."
"How was it to be a mother?"
Anna covered her head with her hands. She started to breathe deeply. She was trying her best to hold back hear tears. She didn't want to show a weak side of hers to the man who was relying on her too much like a little kid would do. Maybe it was because she had found her little son in him.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked."
She inhaled and exhaled, then she got calm.
"It's amazingly lovely at first. When you hold your baby who you were putting your life on the line to give birth to. When you hold the baby. You suddenly realize you're not the same person anymore. You are a mother right now. A mother who had to protect her child form all the dangers that the world might offer. Each day you fall in love with them and you grow closer to them and even being separate for a moment will become hard for you. How should I put it? Like you have never been this happy before. Like you have never felt pleasure before. Like you are in heaven. Your mother, too. Eden, you're your mother's heaven in the chaotic world."
"My mother named me Eden, and I never understood what she really meant by calling me that. How couldn't I find out? And now that I have realized, she is too far away. I wish she was here with me."
His tears dropped from his eyes one by one. Anna looked at him thinking his son was in pain, she moved unintentionally and embraced his son. There was no turning back, she was already lost in illusion.
"My son, he didn't die. The Lord gave him back."
"The agony of being thrusted into the world of aversion, is the only remnant of war."
K.D