Finding Muna: A Palestinian Novel

Chapter Thirteen

"Hi," Muna greeted with a sweet smile, sticking her head into the room while the rest of her body stayed outside the room, she held the door to steady herself.

"Can I come in?" she continued.

Reem wore a small smile on her face and nodded at Muna as she winced at her wound leg which she was currently treating and covered it by drawing her trouser down.

"Your wound is still bad eh?" Muna asked as she sat beside her with a look of pity on her face, her smile remained unwavering as Reem shrugged and grinned at her in response.

"I'll take more of it to gain more rewards from Allah," Reem said simply and Muna scratched her neck awkwardly as she muttered under her breath, "Yeah."

Reem had gotten wounded when she went to a little place where people gathered to buy some food stuff since the market was destroyed some days ago, Reem went there unknown to her that an air missile was going to be fired, and just seconds after getting there did an air missile hit a spot and while she was running, some parts of a house fell on her.

She got bruises, wounds and scars, but the largest wound she got was on her leg, luckily for her, her bone wasn't broken. Her father was worried and hurried to the site as soon as he'd gotten the news and the first thing he did when he saw her alive was to fall in prostration with hot tears in his eyes. And when Reem recovered from her shock, she started chanting words of gratitude to Allah.

Their reaction confused Muna greatly; she knew if she were to be in Reem's position, she would blame God instead of being grateful to Him. How could they be so thankful living in fear and lack of security when other people had the opposite of what they had. The mouths and lips the people living in luxury and wealth are always moist with words of complaint and dissatisfaction.

The Palestinian people's faith and optimism was getting to her, it was making her confused.

After getting Reem back home safely, Muna's peers had gone back to the site to capture something and help in whichever way they could, while she decided to stay back and ask Reem the question that had been bugging her mind.

This wasn't the first time she made up her mind to speak to Reem but she always felt like she would be mocked for some reason, how could she be Muslim and know nothing about Islam? Especially when her parents were very practising, what an embarrassment she was causing her parents in their absence.

She had tried to read the Quran several times, but whenever she carried the Quran to read, she would end up closing it either because she felt she was too sinful to read the Quran, or she felt bored to read it, or telling herself that she would read it when she was ready, or telling herself she would look into Islam when she returned to the US.

She knew she was lying to herself, and she decided not to take any chances, she wouldn't risk dying like that only to realise Islam really was the truth. She couldn't risk suffering on earth and ending up in hell fire, which would be the greatest loss ever.

She decided to swallow her ego and please her parents by speaking to Reem, regardless of whatever insults or mocking that may come with it, although Reem didn't seem to her like an inconsiderate person.

"You wanted to ask something?" Reem asked with a small smile and Muna broke out of her trance, she awkwardly returned the smile as she struggled to find the correct words to say.

"Uhh.... I don't know if this is a good time to ask," she started and Reem shook her head immediately.

"No, it is a good time, what's up?"

"I... I actually wanted to ask about something I noticed earlier," she said and Reem nodded slowly as she moved her eyes around, trying to guess what Muna was about to say.