Rafed's story continues below <<click 'Continue reading' to view part 2>>. Here is more of his email:
What is happening to us,
believe me, is far more overwhelming and horrendous than the September 11
events. Those who attacked you and killed your beloved ones for no reason but
madness and sheer grudge at a society living in peace and liberty that go at
extreme variance with their evil minds are themselves who are attacking our
beloved today in different parts of Iraq.
Rafed
from The Sky will not Rain Again by RAFED A. KHASHAN,
AUGUST 28, 2006
“Which news?”
“Saddam
is finished and the government flew away, bye-bye papa Saddam.” Jalal frisked
towards Karim enthusiastically. <<end part one>>
“There
would no longer be rotten Baathists breaking into our houses in
the midnight in search for
fugitives or to take us to the party section
to spend the night with the dogs.”
“Look
at those people and how joyous they are. The good guys entered Baghdad with no
opposition, the Americans themselves are surprised.”
within
reach. They would soon be like the rest of the world, modern technology,
mobile phones, fashionable cars, air-conditioned work places, a
long list of fantasies and false expectations.
Thrilled
and raptured, Karim returned home carrying his daily bundle of wood
and went to his mother to tell her the news. She was not so much surprised
and did not show a great interest. The news did not seem to appeal
to her as she was convinced that nothing new would soon happen to remove
their misery for ever. She took the wood and began to kindle the fireplace.
The wood was wet and did not burn easily. She spilled some oil from
the lantern on the sticks, which began to smolder with wisps of damp smoke.
“What will you cook us today?” Karim asked.
“Nothing’s
soup.” His mother had a rather black sense of humor that
made
him smirk.
“I long
for some meat; I can’t eat this watery, vegetarian soup any longer.”
Summer
was approaching rapidly and the weather was getting warmer and warmer. There
was no spring in Basrah, where Karim lived, only for a short time. Flowers and
butterflies could only be seen on the TV that Karim was about to forget because
of the scheduled power cut-offs. The only interesting thing that appealed to
him was the scattered cottony clouds that were moving in different shapes in
the sky driven by the soft breezes. One was like the face of a girl, the other
was just like a chair that had soon morphed into something like a car or a
table or may be nothing. The whole thing was an illusion. They were no more
than creations of Karim’s fantasy as when he used to tell his friends that he
saw the face of a beautiful girl in the moon. <<end part two>>
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