Obscurity.

Prologue

Tetta: grandma in Arabic (Syrian accent specifically)
Yallah: C'mon
Allah: god

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The heavy droplets of rain fell repeatedly on the city, washing away all the dirt off the filthy streets; chaos and laughters were heard from the citizens that didn't get much water in the past four years; meaning getting food and money was a difficult thing, and also it gave the chance for some strange diseases to get the best of whole nations,

The weak creatures raised their hands up to the sky thanking whoever is up there pouring them the pure water and having mercy on them, while others rushed from their fancy sleek cars cursing that their precious fabrics got soaked; However the rich people were rare to find nowadays.

"Layla, yallah we has to get the boxes in the apartment before they wet!" An old lady practically screamed at her granddaughter who was too busy watching the heavenly droplets fall at her hands, and she was thanking the heavens secretly for welcoming them to the new lively city; "Yes, Tetta coming!" The young black-haired girl chuckled at her grandmother that attempted to speak English, she was learning slowly but moving into a country with a foreign language is quite hard for elders; but at the end of the day the lady with a scarf wrapped around her head was making her best to learn the new language.

Layla grabbed a small light box from the car and handed it to her younger five years old brother, "C'mon Fares, follow Tetta to the apartment. I'll get the other boxes in a while." The girl instructed giving the tiny kid the box and patting his head and then watched him safely get into the small building, her new home.

She picked up a heavy box and tried to balance it between her arm and her spine while she picked an another box up and placed them on eachothers, she walked carefully towards the heavy metal door and pushed it open with her shoulder, she listened to the sound of her shoes hitting the surface of the stairs, climbing up she came across the taxi boy; who asked if he could do any help, and ofcourse the girl didn't refuse his generous offer and told him that there's three suitcases left in his car waiting to get carried; before thanking him.

Finally, she reached the fourth floor and came face to face with an opened blue small door that has the number '8' on it, she took a deep breath making sure she enters it with her right foot, a small smile was tugged on her lips remembering how her mother always told her to make sure she enters any room with her right food because of the silly belief that it would bring her good luck. She looked around seeing how badly the walls were polished and the small green torn couch was placed in the middle of the room, with several brown boxes around it; she walked to the small window looking down the street, she closed her eyes listening to the sound of the raining calming her nerves; and almost telling her that everything will be okay;

"Layla! are you here?" Her grandmother's voice comes from the hallway that faces the front door; rescuing her from falling into an endless train of worries.

"Yes, Tetta right here!" She yelled back, and turned her head around seeing the young soft-featured boy placing down her luggage,

"Thank you so much for helping," She approached him and pulled a twenty from her small wallet handing it to him, but the boy only shook his head and placed his hand on her giving her a small paper,

"I didn't do anything really," he stretched his arm out as a blush crept up his neck, "Welcome to the fifth city." He grinned, "You may call me if you need anything." She noticed how nervous he was so she decided to end the conversation with a small 'thank you, and will do' before watching him walk out; she out the paper aside, closing the door behind him and took a deep breath.

She walked through the small short hallway, studying the new place; small, old and the worst thing was the insects that were crawling happily around; she wriggled her nose and decided that cleaning the small apartment was the best thing to do before the night took over.

She walked back to the living room and entered the kitchen looking around, "Tetta! where are the cleaning tools?" She yelled and waited patiently for her grandma's reply that told her that she placed them in one of the four small cabinets.

The girl squatted down and got all what she needed; placing them on the wooden table, she put a little bit of water in the pocket and walked up the hallway opening one of the only two rooms' doors,

Just like she expected it was small, an old bed was placed on the right side of the room and the left side held a dirty yellowish mattress, Layla gagged and started mopping the floor and humming an arabic song to herself.

A shaking hand was placed on Layla's shoulder and the girl's the reaction was dropping her brother's suitcase with a loud thud to the woody cracked floor, gasping.

"Oh dear, didn't mean scary you!" Tetta squealed and then laughed warmly squeezing Layla's shoulder as she was now facing her "You been working for tree hour, need to rest you'll have back pain tomorrow!" Layla couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head;

"No Tetta, I need to unpack mine and Fares' stuff. You don't need to worry about me" She leaned down and kissed the old lady's head "It's been a long day for you, please go rest and don't get concerned about me." The grandma shook her head in rejection and put the lightened candle down carfully on the desk which was placed between the mattress and the bed.

She put her small shaking hands on either side of her grandchild' face, looking into her eyes; "Layla, I pray for Allah be with you." She whispered "It's going to be a hard journey for us, for you" a tear rolled down her cheek, she squeezed her eyes shut embracing the young girl with her weak arms, the girl hugged back immediately thinking about the lady's words.

It is really going to be a long journey..

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finally i got the courage to write something.. yay!

anyway i just want to point out that english isnt my native language and feel free to point out my typos or grammar mistakes:D (just pls not rudely ;c)

i wanted so badly to write something about a girl who isnt white, because most of the stories out there dont include characters from different races so here we go!

I'm not gonna talk about the plot hehe but it's going to be so intense heheheheeee

plus this story is going to help you learn an arabic word or two which is kinda cool and kickass i guess

Please vote and comment what do you think!

~Lynnie