The Post-War Children
Malik is a 16-year old boy who escaped the war in Syria when he was 8, and with the help of a charity company got to meet his adoptive mother, Frederique. She was a single psychologist in her late twenties who specialized in war-time trauma and was deemed qualified to mother the orphan, Malik. When he was born, both of Malik's parents, whose marriage was an arranged one, were violent with each other and had grown incessantly tired of each other. This meant they didn't properly raise him, but it also meant he was subject to their constant bickering which often escalated in front of him. Regardless, they did both love him in their own way, but refused to cooperate in his upbringing which meant a lot was missing from his childhood. Later, the Syrian war had reached their city and the family was forced to evacuate. When confronted by militias, his father opted to stay behind with other men to make time for the women and children to escape. Then his father died. His mother, in her grief and the chaos, got separated from Malik. Later they reunited at a ship helping refugees escape the country, but the ship sank and Malik emerged the sole survivor when a touristic ship crossing the Red Sea found him. He was brought to England as a refugee and gained citizenship by being adopted by Frederique. At first, he was mute and refused to ask for anything more than was given to him, due to his many psychological boundaries, but with support from Frederique and his therapist, Dr. Miriam, he learned to start speaking without fear of repercussion and demand things of Frederique. Their relationship was still somewhat distant, since Malik remained a boy of few words and little expressions. But Frederique made up for it with a bubbly but consistent and trustworthy personality. It was still difficult for him, however, to form interpersonal relationships and he was shunned by schoolmates until 9th grade. In the tenth grade, Malik met a boy named Liam who became very interested in him and in being his friend. The two developed a dynamic of Liam constantly seeking Malik out and following him around everywhere. Liam found Malik cool and wanted to become close to him. Malik slowly got used to his presence and began to trust him and enjoy his company. After a year, the two became inseperable and found many shared interests. But one day Liam is hit by a car and dies. Malik succumbs to coping mechanisms he had long shunned and experiences one panic attack after another in his re-elapsing episodes of complex PTSD.
This story aims to draw light to the forgotten victims of the foreign US-funded wars that traumatize and impact generations of people for their entire lives.
