Page 9 - Issue 55

ELITE VOL.1, Issue 55, May 2023
ELITE
VOL.1, Issue 55, May 2023

I couldn't control myself, so I hysterically Then he asked me: “How did you survive in the
shouted: “Dad... Dad... Where are you, Dad...” wreckage? How did you survive all these days?
And it is only the blink of an eye until the roof No air, no water, no food.”
collapses, debris is scattered, and darkness I said: “I was almost stricken with hunger, so
prevails. the smell led me to my mother's pancakes,
I kept calling: “Mom.. Hisham.. Hani.. Where which I began to eat.
are you? do you hear me? do you see me” Thirst almost killed me, and the rain made a
I can no longer hear anything but the sounds of hole in the roof, and I kept drinking the water
houses collapsing, people screaming, and that was falling from it.
children crying. I almost died, as the rescue teams did not turn
I can't see anything anymore..the darkness has towards me.
closed in.. But I turned to God and clung to hope.
I got scared.. I cried.. I screamed.. I was in I thought of removing the pen that my father
pain.. I collapsed.. gave me from the hole in the ceiling, so that the
I kept shouting from time to time: “catch me... rescuers could see it, as it was a phosphorous
save me... help me...” pen that glowed in the dark.”
I surrendered to my destiny, and prepared for And here the microphone was directed to a
my death. person wearing a yellow jacket: “We noticed a
But I remembered how God saved His Prophet thin, shiny thing moving in the dark.. We went
Yunus from the darkness of the belly of the towards it, grabbed it, and found it..”
whale, His Prophet Joseph from the depths of And here I felt my neck, but I did not find it, so
the pit, and His Prophet Moses from the waves I frowned.. and I almost cried: Where is my
of the sea. pen? And I said in a choked voice: Was it lost in
Time passed, and I could no longer distinguish the rubble?
between night and day, nor between sleep and And here the cameras turned on another person
wakefulness. from the yellow vests: “Here is the pen that
And when someone calls me: Come on saved her, then he gave it to me...”
heroine.. I smiled, and tried to straighten my seat to hang
I opened my eyes, looked around, and focused it around my neck, but I could not move my
my hearing. other hand, and I looked at it but could not
Many people surround me.. Microphones find it..
pointing at me.. Cameras pointing at me.. And before I could wonder, the microphone
One of them said: “Thank God for your was directed at a person wearing a white robe:
safety.” “her hand was amputated, but she is now in
Another added, while looking at one of the good condition, her body systems are working
cameras: “We are now in the hospital where the efficiently, and she can be discharged from the
fifteen-year-old girl, who was found alive hospital after several days..”
several days later, lies among the rubble left by Here, one of those carrying microphones asked
the earthquake.” me: “How do you feel now after the death of
your parents, the loss of shelter, and the
amputation of your hand?”
I said, with sadness drawn on my face, tears
welling up in my eyes, and pain oozing from my
heart: It's okay..as long as I can hold the pen..

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