Finding Muna: A Palestinian Novel

Chapter Six

Muna stepped out after a while to get fresh air, her friends were back in the hotel room trying to make up for the lost sleep, Muna would have slept as well, but the events from last night wouldn't put her mind at ease.

She had booked the flight tickets just some hours ago and she called her parents immediately after that; she thought the network would disappear after she bought the ticket like it had been doing for a while and when the network didn't disappear, she took it as an opportunity to reach out to her parents.

She had been very desperate to call her parents since she hadn't been able to for more than 24 hours, the network went off after the first explosion that happened the day before and it didn't come up until when she made an attempt to book the flight tickets.

She kicked a pebble in frustration as she thought about the travel back home, they had been so focused on coming to Palestine that they forgot Tel Aviv was their only way out, Syria and Jordan and on the other side close to West Bank and that only meant if the Israeli policemen doesn't let them in; then they're doomed. There was no way they could leave since the Rafah crossing to Egypt was currently closed.

The reality dawned on Muna as she pulled her hair in exasperation, wishing badly that she had listened to her parents or listened to her gut which told her to stand up before the plane moved, or the reluctance feeling she got when they all arrived at Tel Aviv some days earlier.

She really was a fool and a big one at that, the woman who told her she was stupid the day before wasn't lying, and although Muna knew she wasn't lying almost immediately, she just understood what the woman was saying properly now.

She and her friends never dared to step out of their hotel room to go anywhere nor did they dare mention the event of the previous night or discuss it, it was like a forbidden topic that was so sensitive to everyone. After all, Muna still couldn't forget the decapitated woman who stared at dead in the soul; whenever she'd close her eyes to get some sleep, all she saw was the woman's lifeless eyes, widened with fear as her mouth was wide open to scream.

What an idiot she was, she shook her head in disappointment at herself and she pitied her friends as well, although they chose to come on their own since they were as passionate as her regarding Palestine, she still couldn't help but feel guilt, knowing they would probably pass away soon.

It was only a matter of time before the Israeli government would order the civilians to move to Rafah, and with no place to hide, Muna knew she would be doomed, leaving her parents who had only her to be childless. Tears slipped from her eyes as she sat down on the road and sobbed her eyes out, crying for her pitiful parents who warned her against it.

'Maybe they should have been stricter with me, maybe they should have locked me up in my room, maybe they should have called my boss and told him I was resigning, maybe, maybe, maybe.' She thought.

Then she probably wouldn't have ended up her, in the middle of genocide, it was basically another way to easily get killed. What an idiot she really was.

She remembered her conversation with her parents, she had tried to mask up her fear, put on a fake smile so perhaps they wouldn't be worried and she even tried to calm them and reassure them that she had already booked a flight, and then she would be alright. At least the flight was in three days, she could only hope to be alright before the three days would be over, and she just needed to stay alive for those three days. And then somehow they would have to make it to Gaza without getting killed, and from there they would get to Tel Aviv.

She bit her lower lip in fear, shivering as she put her arms around her, trying not to think of the possibility of dying even though it was glaring at that point. The food and water supply in Gaza Strip was very limited at that point, and the civilians were down with an illness or the other, Muna wasn't sure she would survive although it was just three days.