Story: The Ruined City
Written by: Nazmun Nahar
People, animals, nothing is seen anywhere. The city that was filled with the echoes of celebration a few days ago now reveals no signs of life. Those who remain are all dead.
Even if someone is half-alive, I lack the strength to rescue them. I don’t know why humans prefer war! It’s quite astonishing.
Those who declare war, neither they nor their families are in bad shape. They live comfortably, at least safe. They don’t have to stay awake all night or wake up abruptly from terrifying nightmares after just five minutes of sleep.
They don’t know how these feel. We, simple people, bear the consequences. Not much to enjoy like us. Where memories with family from childhood to adulthood hide behind the walls, those walls are now in ruins. These are not just walls anymore; they hold more extraordinary joyful memories after the destruction of the walls.
My little sister was sleeping under the broken wall; her small body was resting against the wall. Whose blood is on the wall? Everyone’s blood is red; how can you tell whose blood has painted the wall with such beautiful red colour? Have you ever seen such a scene? Oh, not everyone is so fortunate to witness. A splash of red colour on paper looks beautiful. I heard that in some countries, paintings like these are bought at high prices.
Well, my family or the countless other families here, has such beautiful paintings in our house, would anyone buy them? Actually, the scarcity of food is such that I haven’t eaten anything for three or four days. When dad was around I wouldn’t have to worry about having food, and now? Who knows where papa mama is hiding? Or maybe trying to come out but can’t. I am a small person. My hands are small, and my body lacks strength. Despite that, I have tried a lot to find them. All day and night, I have been lifting pieces of broken cement and clearing their way, but I haven’t found them yet. I was playing with my sister.
Dad brought us beautiful dresses. Mom was cooking our favorite food. Mom was organizing for the Celebratory Day. While playing with my sister, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I saw the window; a gentle breeze was blowing. Behind, my sister’s cool leg touched me, thought that she may catch a cold so I went to the window to block it. And my eyes got stuck on something strange.
I don’t understand it. In television, they said it’s a boom. I asked mama,“mama why is it called a boom?” Mama said,“Because when it lands on somewhere it sounds like “Booooomm”, and the surrounding place gets heavily shaked.”
I was looking at her intently.
It really sounded like “Booooom” .
I collapsed.When I get up, there is no home, no sister, no mom and dad anywhere. I am quite hurt. But mom is not coming, not holding me, not wiping the tears from my eyes, not trying to stop the bleeding from my head. I can’t see her shadow either. I found my sister later, took her with great difficulty to nearby houses. The same situation as ours. I couldn’t find anyone else.
The dog I used to play with every day came to my feet with its severed head like a football. A few days ago, a cat gave birth to many kittens. They, too, have painted the soil and walls. How beautiful it looks! Returning home without finding anyone, I thought of returning to the house. Oh, there is no house anymore, just countless broken walls. I thought my sister would wake up a bit later, then we would look for mom and dad together, and then the four of us would rebuild the house like before and play.
But my sister hasn’t woken up yet. Her body is completely cold. Earlier, when her body was hot and burning, I understood that she had a fever. Now, what happened to her? Can you tell? A strange smell in the air. A rotten smell. The smell of decaying flesh and… and… I don’t know how to describe the other smell. I couldn’t understand why? everything was fine yesterday. Why like this today?
One day, two days, three days, four days… passed. Lost count of how many places I went to in search of food. Found nothing. I found a piece of bread at some broken shop, but I searched all day. Didn’t find anyone. I went to my sister and was dancing because I finally found food. She is still asleep. But she can wake up at any time, so I left food for her. And if mom and dad come, I shall share some with them too.
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