The Boy Who Made Flowers Sing

50 | No Mercy

Latif brought in the van on Sunday night. Aziza had the news turned on again and Elena could hear the reporter saying something in Arabic. She caught bits and pieces of information like "government" and "Al Assad" and "protests." Then, Elena heard the word "shellings" followed by the sound of demolishing buildings.

Already, there was a war that had begun.

Elena didn't need to face the TV to hear the explosion that erupted on the screen. The reporter continued to say that some rebel fighters had died. She could hear Aziza and Zubaida gasp as soon as they broadcasted an air strike on the news. The FSA was ordering an evacuation already. Good thing Aziza was already two steps ahead of them.

Due to the air raids, they all stayed in the basement. The children were in their beds while Aziza urged them to get some shut-eye.

Elena was supposed to sleep too but she was feeling alert and anxious. She ran back upstairs to find Latif and let him know they were in the basement.

She walked outside into the cool night and heard nothing but the chirping of crickets. Latif wasn't outside so Elena figured he had already made his way inside.

As she headed back to the gate, Elena suddenly stopped dead in her tracks as her heart raced so fast she could barely keep up with it. There was a loud frequency in her ear, and all of a sudden, a force viciously pushed her back.

Her arm hit something like a wall and she felt a heavy weight on her chest. Elena frowned as she was paralyzed in place and could hear nothing for a few moments. Then, she heard a shrill scream that almost deafened her - it was her own.

All of a sudden, she was staring at the navy blue sky and its stars which faded into a bright white. Her world blurred and then everything went from white to black.