Fire Chronicles: Kitab 1

Dhikraa: Remembrance

Ila

'A mother sings to her baby. The melody is so familiar, and fills me with the hope that has been gone from me for so long. Even though I don't understand the words, I know that these words mean something. I listen closer;

Falday ealaa eaqd sahlaan kama aismahuu li 'an tadhhab
sataemal aqwl lk kam 'ana 'ahabbuk wa'iin kunt taetaqid 'annak taerif balfel ant jamilat min alkharij fi
mutaradat 'ahlamik walikun naerif dayimaan alttariq
wahadha sawf taquduk almanzil marratan 'ukhraa
ealaa aldhdhahab, w takhudh ealaa hadha alealam klh
walakun balnsbt li kunt 'aelam 'annak sawf takun---

Suddenly there are men in different clothes; Dark and covering. They rush into the small, bare room. When they speak, their voices are strange and muffled. The leader pulls out a knife. Jafari, I think. I'm puzzled by how I know this. He puts the blade to the mothers throat. She steps back, but doesn't seem surprised. She clutches the baby to her chest. The baby doesn't cry. "Your time is up, Zia." The mother slientley rocks the baby. When she speaks, her voice is barely above a whisper. "You can take me, but leave Aila. Please. She doesn't deserve this." Jafari laughs. It's high and cold. "Aila. Poor Aila. Imagine her growing up. An orphan, all alone." 'Zia' fights back tears. "Please. Please..." Her voice fades, as there is the sound of a gun shot and a body hitting the floor. A baby crying...'

I wake up drenched in a cold sweat. My sheets are twisted around me, and the more I kick, the more caught I become. "Ila! Ila, it's okay. Wake up, please. It's just a nightmare. Shhh." I feel someone stroking my hair, as they hum. I open my eyes, and Tali sadly smiles at me. "Sh, it's okay. Go back to sleep." I don't want to, but I'm sleep debrived, and finally her soft hum lures me to sleep.

***

     I am waken, not much later, by the yells and screeches of children. I unwillingly get up, and attempt to make my bed, (which is more like throwing a thin blanket over a matress.) I open the door, and blink back the light that welcomes me
"Illlllllllyyyyyyyy silly boo boo! Sweepy head awake! Come pway with meeee! Pwease?" Vivi says, pulling on my leggings. I look down, and the smallest of smiles appears on my face. I bend down, and she puts her cubby arms around my neck. I close my eyes, and sway back and forth. If I ever have a child someday, I would want one like Vivi. Adorable with her blond curls, and a bit small for two. Everything happening at the right time, and only crying when she should. "Ila?" A voice asks. My eyes snap open, and I whirl around; Vivi clutching onto my top. I relax, when I realize it's just Mika, the female helper in this part of the camp. As always, she isn't smiling, and carrying a three ring binder. "We need your help in 23." She rolls her eyes. "Pipe burst. Again." I nod, and put down Vivi, her whining and trying to stay on.

     I wade through the water. It's not quite ankle deep, but close. One pant leg falls, immediatley getting wet. I quickly roll it up the best I can, and pick up the fallen items from the water, and put them up on a shelf to dry. "Okay, everyone out!" A voice calls. Fayden marches in the room, followed closley by his current girlfriend, Kani. We help all the kids that were in here out, then clean up the wet floor. "There is going to be some water damage in here," Fayden annouces. Mika groans. "Just what we need. And it's like we have the money to do it," she says sarcastically. I silently mop the floor. "Hey Ila, where were you this morning? We missed you at breakfast," Fayden calls across the room. "More like he missed you." Kani mumbles. I ignore her. "Sorry. Sleeping." I say. "Okay I'm done in here. Can I please leave now?" Mika nods. As I exit, I overhear Kani say "What's with her? Gosh, and she wonders why she ain't have no friends."

Back in my room, I lean on the wall. I think of the dream I had. What was that supposed to be about? The mother. The song. The little girl named Aila. The men. Jafari. The shooting. I have had dreams like that before, but none ever felt like that. This one felt so much...deeper. I shake my head, clearing my thoughts, and lean back on my pillow.

'An middle adged woman slowly walked through the town. She suddenly hears people yelling down on the beach. When she looked from the bridge, there was a group hudled around something. As fast as she could, she went down. I follow her. A young child lays on the shore. Not even one year. Her body is stained almost brown because the dirt, and is hard to guess the gender. The lady picks her up, gently. "Pégre," the people gathered whisper. "Underworld." This was rare. The town they lived was called "The heart," or "Le coure." Many people came here to start a new life. A new beginning. But this had never happened before. Suddenly the old lady turned around. I almost fainted. I recgonized this face. More then recgonized. I had grown up seeing this face. The lady was Alo. So that must mean...no. It couldn't...the baby must of been me.'

***