She was a nucleus of light

A woman's voice in the silence of the night

Two people were continuously taking turns to watch the surroundings of the cave, trying not to be seen. It was just past midnight. The village, leaning against the slope of the opposite hill with its pale lights, was a lonely, silent, and impoverished solitude in the vast, dark valley. While Ismail was checking the surroundings, he shared his loneliness with this pale, yellow-lit loneliness for a while. After the chaos that broke out in the evening, this dark silence gave a person a chance to listen to themselves. He was lost in thought when he was startled by an "Ah!" sound. The sound resembled that of a woman more. Curious, he headed in the direction the sound came from and took a few steps downward. The slope was quite steep, and it required strength and effort to stay on his feet and not roll down. He was scared and felt powerless. He scolded himself for attempting this alone. Slowly, he released the safety of his gun, held his breath, opened his ears, and began to listen attentively. He didn't move or make a sound for a long time, resembling a timid rabbit. Just as he was about to give up and climb back up, he was startled by a sound similar to a sack rolling down, mingled with the sound of stones and earth sliding down. The moment the noise stopped, he heard a faint moan. He was now sure it was a woman's voice. Gathering his courage, he descended a little further. He was ready to fire his gun at the slightest movement. The sound of stones crushed under his boots and rolling downward was giving away his position, but for some reason, he no longer felt the fear he had earlier and didn't care.

The moment he heard a "click" sound, he threw himself to the ground. The trigger had been pulled, but no gunshot was heard. He hadn't been shot. He wanted to scan the direction the sound came from, but suddenly he remembered his dream. He felt as if he heard Zehra's scream, "Don't do it!" He couldn't scan. His mouth was dry, his heart was heavy, and he couldn't breathe. What was the soft warmth under his arm? In a panic, he made a sudden movement and rolled to the side to reduce his target size. As he calmed down a bit, he heard deep and fast, moaning breaths. If only there was a tiny light, enough light to see. He muttered to himself, "Damn darkness!" What was he facing? He didn't move for a while. He had to hear the smallest sound, notice the slightest change, and take precautions accordingly.

Minutes passed, but nothing happened. If what he thought had happened, he would have been finished with all that noise by now. He felt somewhat relieved and could think more clearly. Slowly, he took out his lighter and was about to light it when he remembered the hefty kick and curse he received from the sergeant during basic training. Lighting the lighter in this darkness was like announcing to the universe, "I am here." He didn't light it. For a while, he held his breath and listened around. The moaning breath he had heard earlier was no longer heard, nor was any sound. His eyes had adjusted a bit more to the darkness, but he still couldn't see clearly. Curiosity got the better of him. He decided to light the lighter for a moment to see something, even just a little, by shielding his body with the light from the lighter while lying down. He lit it... In the flickering light of the lighter, he saw, just three or four meters in front of him, among the branches of a scrubby oak, a face covered here and there with hair and a bloody-black color, and in that face, eyes that helplessly but without pleading showed everything was over. He wasn't mistaken; it was a woman he saw. The lighter he had thought to light and extinguish for a moment was still burning. After a moment of shock, he pointed his gun at the woman.

"Go ahead, shoot!"

It was such a weak, deep, pain-filled, life-weary voice that it was saying, "Shoot, shoot and end it."

As Ismail hastily aimed the gun at the woman, the lighter fell from his hand, and everything disappeared into the embrace of darkness once again. He didn't know what to do. His finger stayed on the trigger. There was some benefit in frightening her. He said into the darkness, "Don't move, or I'll shoot!" He said it, but even he didn't believe it. Moreover, his voice was so low that it was as if he didn't want anyone to hear or know what was happening. He was surprised at himself. Suddenly, the lighter was lit again, but this time it was in the young woman's hand, illuminating her pain-covered dirty face. Ismail, with fear and panic, whispered angrily, "Put out that lighter, you'll give away our position." "There's no one around, they all left," said the bloody-black, painful face.