The Kite Runner:Sohrab's Story

4

Entry 1

I was born on 7th December 1990 in Kabul.We lived in Wazir Akbar Khan in a lovely hut right next to a huge house,it was empty except for sasa and Rahim Khan sahib.

Our hut was small but I had mama and baba and we were happy,I never did want to live in that big house.It seemed we would get lost in such a big space,and we'd lose each other...our hut was perfect.

I remember thinking about this one night when I was 8,Baba had told me that sasa used to live in the big house too but I didn't remember her much.

I am 9 now and mama says when I turn 10 in a month,she will have a surprise for me,I am very excited.Baba and Rahim Khan sahib say 10 years is very big,they call me young man now,I feel so proud when they do.

But I am sad too,Baba told me yesterday that Rahim Khan sahib is going to Pakistan,who will play with me then,and buy me books? But he is sick,Baba says,he will heal in Pakistan and then he'll come back to us,and our family will be complete.

Baba tells me of this Amir agha who was his best friend,just like a brother,he used to go to school,Baba says school's where you learn things,like how to read...and write.I've never been to school but I know how to do both things.School sounds fascinating,you can have friends,and alot of people to play with.

I went with baba to the zoo,to see Marjan the huge lion,whose teeth were as sharp as the knives baba showed me at the butchers shop and his growl is so loud,you can hear it all the way from the zoo's gate,so when we were going to the zoo baba showed me an empty building,its windows were broken and the building was falling on its side.It had red and black spray on the walls over yellow and green,a very strange mixture.It was a school!

Baba said children studied there but I saw nobody,instead there was a fire,a big one,and a big hole in the wall which a man was looking at us through,a man wearing a herringbone vest.

That was the first time I saw a school,the magical dreamland of my thoughts was nothing but a stack of bricks and putrid colours.

*******

Entry 2

Rahim Khan sahib went to Pakistan yesterday,we went to see him off at the airport.He hugged me tight and said he'd be back soon,and he'd get me the best thing he could from Pakistan.

Then he disappeared through a set of double doors and we went and sat on the little patch of grass watching planes whoosh far above.About a half hour later we got into a waiting taxi and drove home.

The big house seemed so empty,so quiet,it was almost scary,nobody peeked out of the windows,no delicious smells wafted out of the kitchen,no car carrying Rahim Khan sahib and books and toys for me pulled up the long driveway.

Baba and mama told me to pray for Rahim Khan sahib,so that he gets better quickly and comes home to us,but I don't think I'll ever see Rahim Khan sahib again,I think that was the last time I saw him....because when I went back to our hut from the garden and I was wiping my muddy shoes at the doormat,I heard mama crying.

I almost pushes open the door when baba spoke,"Don't worry Farzana,I am sure Rahim Khan sahib will come back to us...despite what the doctor says."

"But Hassan,if he doesn't,we cannot live here and we have no where else to go,you sold the house in Bamiyan...Hassan,"Mama wept,"Hassan,we are Hazara's,the Taliban will never let us live here."

"We can only pray that Rahim Khan sahib is back before the Talibs find out we're living here.Don't cry Farzana,it isn't good for you,not for the next six months."
I did not understand what they were talking about,this was our home,nobody could send us out of our home,even if we are Hazara's,whatever that means,so I entered the hut and walked towards them sitting on the bed.