Marja, I will never leave you alone again.
Author's Note:
The Balkan War
gave me inspiration for this piece. The contest showed fossils of two dead people
embraced in death. I gave them the tale of a father and his daughter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The shelling had
been incessant through the night and till this morning dawn. I just got in from
my stint at my post in the barricade with the others to safeguard the city from
the invaders. I came to the door of my destination and I checked the hidden
marks for any signs of intrusion. There are none as the piece of paper still
stays embedded between the door and the wall. I am relieved as none has come in
when I am away. I knocked on the door with my knuckles giving the correct
signals.
The door opened
and I am greeted by the warmth of the room. It's not the wood stove which still
burned till now, but the feeling of the fact I am back in my home. Our home to
be exact, as its the home I built with Marja, my daughter. She is my only
living love as her mother was gunned down in cold blood by some overzealous soldiers
as she is of the other beliefs. I laid my rifle by the door and closed the door
with the latch in place. It's dark inside despite the woodstove but darkness
welcomes safety when I am away. I drag open the thick blanket that served as a curtain.
I then turned to face my daughter of twelve years of age. But the sight that
greets me was not of her.
"Mama Rosa, how did you
come in?" Mama Rosa is my neighbor and she has been here before but only
when I am in and she met only me all the time. She is a widow with a surviving
son staying with her. He was injured in the battle and is today without his
right arm as a result of it. Mama Rosa comes to me for some of the medicine
which I helped her to get from the Medic for her son. He is still suffering from
his wound and in great pain. She is a think frail lady with a spine bent due to
her advanced age.
"I came in on
her calls. She is unwell and she needed her comfort." Marja is ill and I
know not of it. I ran to her hidden place behind the cupboard and there she lay
sleeping soundly covered in the pieces of cloth we do for the cover. "I
heard her cries and I knocked. She opened on hearing my voice and I assisted
her."
"Mama Rosa,
thank you. I did not tell as ......she is my daughter with my wife. She is
blind and she is not safe in this city alone. She is...." I tried to explain
myself to the older lady as she bends over the wood stove to stoke the fire beneath
the metal container we used for our cooking.
"I have
cooked some herbs for her. Give it to her. Whoever she is and what she believes
in matters, not to me. To me, she is a child and needs help. You should have
told me she was with you. I would have cared for her. Your silly war matters
not to me. It's the ranting of the fools which draw our young ones to kill or
be killed. If they are so good at their rhetoric, asked them to take the same
line as my son's." Mama Rosa lost three sons in this war and the last one
is sitting at home without his arm. "I am seventy-five and I have seen
them all. The fights, the quarrels, the bitching, and even the segregation in
the lines, but yet we find times then to help each other in times of need. I
helped to deliver some babies when the doctor is away, but today those babies
are killing mine. Who's to blame? Not me and not you but the ones who talk on the
box. They rant and shout their voice and we sent our children to their death.
If victory would end the war, why are we still fighting new wars every time
after the victory."
Mama Rosa is at
the door now. "I am going back to my house. I do have a son who requires
my help." She left without asking if I want to say anything. If I have, it's
not words that I can speak as the empty feeling in me could not be translated
into words. I take the arms to the cause as my home is threatened by them, but
if I would look at them, I could be seeing my wife's cousin there doing the
same for his cause. It's silly when you think of it; we fighting for a cause
when if we have thought it out, the real action to be taken is to discuss the
matter on the table. But as Franco put it; the time to talk is over and we need
to teach them how we feel. I believed him then but now I am not sure. My wife,
Fatim did not feel the same then. She feared for her marriage and her love. She
is of the other side and we are to be separated by the ideals of beliefs. She
did ask me who do I uphold first; family or beliefs. I could not answer her as
love both and could not hate both. But the next day, she was shot dead for her
belief and I am left holding my only child then of eight years in my arms.
"Papa, are you
back?" I hear my love and I went towards her. I took her extended hand and
pulled her gently up from the bed. I hugged her and I can feel the heat on her
body. She is having a high temperature and she may need medicine. I remembered
the concoction in the container which Mama Rosa told me. I asked Marja to sit
there while I get the hot concoction for her. She nodded to my request while I
got up to walk towards the stove. I took it off the stove as its boiling over.
We are not with luxury but we have some bare essentials. I found the small
metal bowl which I poured the concoction into.
"Drink this,
darling. Mama Rosa boiled this for you. It would do you good." Marja did
as she was told. She did not flinch as the concoction may taste bitter or
worse, but she obligingly drank it all. She is my good girl and I would do all
I could to protect her. Marja then crawled back to her cot and slept the day
away. I did what I could during my free time' cleaning the place and writing my
diary of the events that affected us for the last four years. Since that day, I
ran with Marja with the refugees to the safer cities and lived on the handouts.
When I called for duty to protect my people, I would entrust her to the ones who
I believed would take care of her. But I am back daily and it not the next to
see her. It was fine until one of her guardians tried to trade her for food
rations. I was in time to rescued her from the predicament and I killed the
bastard who tried to violate her. It was also my need to run from my own and be
a fugitive in the war. We traverse the countryside and live off the land. There
times I want to leave her to die in a barrage of shells or a heated battle
scene but my love for her could not bear to see her be killed in such a manner.
She may not know as she sees nothing in her eyes but I can hear her cries for
me. Tell me which parent can be allowed their child to die in such a manner. I
am not an animal but her father and rightful guardian. Since then, she never
left my side in any events until we reached here. Here I am, I find new refuge
but also my role as defender of the city. I constructed her haven and moved to
my post with a heavier heart. It needed for me to get those food and medicine
rations to be shared with Mama Rosa.
But I told Marja
to be brave in her lone hours as I am obliged to be away. But I will be back
when she calls. I gave her my promise that I would never leave her alone for
too long. A promise I kept for over six months now. She is a brave girl as she knows
in her heart, I am also doing this to protect her although she knows not from
what. She waited for me those months in the confines of her haven until she
hears my knocks. When I return here, we would eat the food I brought back and she
will tell me about her day. She would tell me of her friends who comes to play
and shared their tales with her. She has one of her favorite; Rapunzel the rat
who will tell her of his exploits to raid the pantry or the kitchen for food. There
is also Rick the Roach who will tell her of his dream to build the biggest
roach nest. She has other friends who will come for tea like the cheesy Cat,
but she disliked his manners at the table. Most times, I end up sleeping while
she is whispering to my ears.
But today, I am
all alone and watching her sleep.
Then there is the
knock on the door. This is most unusual at this time. I moved the cupboard back
to hide her haven and see if everything is in its place. I ran to the door which
the knockings are getting impatient. I unlatched it to open the door and see it's
my commander, Alex.
"Micheal, we
will need to retreat immediately. The tanks are coming in and they are shelling
all the buildings. It's a big push and we need to run. Our new line is at the
Train Station. See you there." Alex left me at the door as I can see
scores of people running for the new line. I closed the door and went over to
the cupboard. I pushed open the cupboard and see my sleeping darling. I touched
her forehead and it still hot. I considered my options.
I made my
decision.
I heard the voices
from the haven which I am hiding with my daughter. I held her close to me while
holding my rifle to shoot at anyone who will discover our hiding place. There
are two of them.
"It's empty.
Okay set it here and move on."
"Yes, sir."
Set what? I asked
myself but I dare not move as I may wake up Marja. If she makes any noise, the
soldiers outside may hear us. I held her closer to me and whispered in her ears.
"It will be
fine. I am here."
"I know, Papa.
Thank you." She replied to me in her low whispers.
It was not a long
wait when the explosion came and the walls came down. Our death was swift and
painless as the building collapsed onto us with a big force.
"Papa, I see
Mummy. Can you see her?"
"Yes, Marja.
I can see her. We are one family again. We are safe forever now."
No comments:
Post a Comment