Letters from a Refugee

Letter 10: From Uncle Aamir

Mistalia,

I remember when I got the news that a boat had sunk in the middle of the ocean, my heart had stopped. I found out that they found about twenty five people clinging to floating objects like their lives depended on it, most of which were unconscious. Apparently the nearest country in the area was New Zealand and they took all the people to a hospital immediately through a helicopter. Only fifteen of those unconscious people gained consciousness after being admitted. The other ten were alive but believed to be in a coma that might take two months for them to get out of. Two of the people in a coma died in the week following their rescue, three people went into a deeper coma and five people showed signs of recovering. You were not one of the people who gained consciousness but your dad and brothers were, you saved them and they have been at your side the entire time. I guess you have a really big desire to live because you are one of the five people showing signs of recovering.

After finding you, they opened that folder you kept in your suitcase which led them to discover identity cards, money, family photos and the letters. I have got to hand it to you, for a ten year old you are unusually smart. The New Zealand government asked your father what to do with the letters and he told them to send them. The fact that you had ID cards and money in there made it easier to admit you into the hospital. Your family has visited you everyday to see how you have been going. According to the doctor you have no lasting damage to your brain which is good and that once you wake up you'll be back to your usual self. Apparently, you got lucky because if you hadn't shown signs of recovering in the first week, you'd have had really bad injuries to your mind, such as amnesia.

As soon as I got your letters, I instantly started replying to them. I read each and every one of them in order, replying to it as life progressed. It has been a month since I got the letters and you got admitted to the hospital. A month that your family has been visiting you for, they haven't let the doctors take the pendant from your neck. Your mother's jacket is at your bedside, where you can find it instantly, as soon as you wake up. It is estimated that you'll wake up from your coma, sometime in the next two weeks. Another thing that happened while you were in your state is that your father is getting passports made, he doesn't want you to go through that torturous boat ride again. The only reason he could do that is because the New Zealand government has allowed him to. When you wake up, you'll have your very own passport and get to fly in a aeroplane.

In the month that you were unconscious I have been writing what has happened in afghanistan. I got targeted by the Taliban as soon as they found out that I was your uncle a month ago. The reason they are so intent on finding me is so that they can use me to get you and your family out of New Zealand. So i have written the replies to your letters while you are in your coma. I hope you'll be able to read them soon. I know that somewhere up there your mother is watching over us and she'll never let you die. Sun and Moon can't wait until you are awake again, they keep telling you everything that has happened whenever they visit. I wonder, can you hear them?

The way I got the replies to New Zealand is by passing them to someone that has enough connections to get them there. I hope that you'll be out of your coma really soon and can read them. You could tell the twins who our ancestors were and their story, about a princess and a warrior. May allah be with you and you get to live a good life. I think that you'll finally be able to live a safe life, too bad we can't say that about the people that have been killed. I hope their souls rest in peace, since they couldn't find it while alive. Two weeks till you'll be able to finally enjoy life and not get murdered for it. You might not be in Australia yet, but at least you are safe and will soon be able to live soon.

Get better soon my little warrior princess,

With lots of hope,

Uncle Aamir