Things change as time passes by. The south of Waziristan is now nothing like it was before.
"But where are we going?" protested Shireena as her father told her that they had to leave immediately. The children were running around trying to find their clothes while their mothers would tuck them inside the bags. The luggage had less belongings but more hope to carry. Hope was what kept them confident enough to leave their district and share dwelling with some stranger.
Shireena and her family looked once at their house before they turned around and grabbed their luggage. As they came out to the streets, they saw many of their neighbors getting out with varying luggage's heavily resting on their shoulders. The children, unaware of the situation thought that they were accompanying their parents to their relative's house. They played along their way with their friends but they were warned to keep check of their parents and keep pace.
Women covered in veils in the intense heat were walking with their husbands without anything to say. Shireena was playing with her friends, when she finally got tired, she sat on the rock besides the road and noticed the situation.
That had naturally occurred to the little girl.
She sat, keeping the bag at her side, insuring it was safe. She twisted her head in order to see everyone as they continued on their journey.
Shireena saw infants in their mother's arms, some fast asleep while the others protesting to be fed. She saw some young children playing hopscotch along their way, being careful not to get hurt by the stampede of the adults. The young men and women frowned as they carried their belongings. They did carry hope with themselves but the hope had not brightened their faces, instead; they looked rather devastated by the thought of travelling to some other area. She was scanning through the faces of the villagers when she stopped as she saw an old woman, an herbalist she was known as in the village. The elderly herbalist walked as she bended down, forcing the sack in her hand to stagger along the way.
The herbalist was as pretty as a ray of light but her worn out garment and her white hair made her look entirely miserable. She had a sack staggering along the way as she walked. She noticed the woman closely and then saw that the herbalist had no shoes! She was walking with some ragged cloth tied around her feet as protection. The herbalist had tears in her eyes, warm tears being prepared to be rolled down the face of the elderly. Shireena couldn't help but stare at her for the old woman was in such a desperate condition.
Shireena was a child, and at such an age no child can fight the admiration for their belongings but the young girl made a wise decision. She thought twice about it before she took a long a breath and went towards the herbalist. The instant as the herbalist saw Shireena, she smiled and greeted her. Shireena was about to burst out and cry but she had promised herself not to do such a silly act. The herbalist waited for a reply and before she would continue on her journey, Shireena presented her shoes to the lady.
"You can have these. I think these will fit you."
The herbalist silently protested because she did not want to take the shoes from Shireena, for Shireena would then have nothing to wear. She knew that Shireena and her family was as desperate as she herself was while Shireena however made the lady sit, she undid the ragged cloth that the herbalist had tied around her feet. She saw blood stains all over the cloth and the herbalist's feet were badly bruised. Shireena run her fingers gently on the scars of the herbalist's feet making sure she didn't make the lady yelp in pain. She was lost in her thoughts, she imagined how the lady might have tied the cloth, and she could feel the pain that the lady could feel as she took each step. She was lost in her imagination but she didn't want the lady to wait for long. She slid the shoes onto the feet of the lady and they fit perfectly.
