The Big Bangs--TK

Sitting in the dark, with only me and my parents, accompanied by a few dim, lit candles flickering in the dark silence, time seemed to pass by so slowly, with nothing to do. We were trying hard to take in all that had happened in the three days that we had been in Lebanon.

Power stations had been bombed and generator fuel was running low. The generators were turned on at 7:00 am for two hours and 5:00 pm for three hours. We had to dispose of a lot of our food because it was going rotten, and there was no power to cook. So we had been going out for dinner the past two nights. That night we all agreed to go to the restaurant, Blue Elephant, to eat Thai food.

When we arrived at the Blue Elephant, there was a sign on the door that said CLOSED. We did not want to return home straight away, so we decided to look around. As we walked across the road we spotted a large group of people, some standing with video cameras, some with cameras and some with just their eyes, looking out into the pitch black darkness of the sea. It was then that we saw two faded lights fly by like unexploded fireworks. The missiles flew over like a silent meteor shower. All that could be smelt was fear. The two dim lit stars disappeared, but every one knew that they were still present, gliding by like ghosts in the night only to make themselves known when they touched down.

My father and mother were not scared because they had experienced something similar when we lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I, on the other hand, was terrified for my life because I didn’t think that I had lived it to the fullest…yet. I only had nightmares about war, and now, I was living in one. After the two missiles silently faded away, the silence was followed by one big explosion. There was nothing to be seen or heard after one of the many big bangs.

Everyone tried to get a glimpse of the next missiles, but they too were well-hidden within the black sky above. No one could see them, but we all knew that they were heading to their target. It seemed to me that the first missile that was fired failed to explode, but the second one did. When it exploded my body just froze up. I wanted to scream, and I wished that I was anywhere else other than Lebanon.

I disliked every minute of it. Even though I had been through three days and three nights, this was by far the worst, closest and loudest I had ever felt and heard. That was it. The past days I had tried to be calm, but now I would just scream every time a bomb went off. I also loathed Hezbollah and Israel for all the trouble they had both caused, and how many innocent lives they had taken, just to get back at each other. I was speechless until the words, "I want to go home," escaped from my mouth. My eyes filled with tears and my nose started running.

Taking dad's keys I silently crept into the car and wept; everything was just too much. I couldn’t and I wouldn’t accept it. I felt as if no one could protect me, and I was imprisoned with no escape. My parents were still outside straining their eyes to see if they could spot any more "shooting star” look-alikes, but there were none.

When we arrived home, I got dressed into my sleep clothes and crawled into my soft, warm bed. I normally escape from the real world with my dreams, but that night there was something that was stopping me from sleeping. I became frustrated and tried to force myself to sleep. My concentration was broken by an explosion. My heart sank. started pounding in my throat, and I could hear my blood pumping. I closed my eyes and eventually went into an uncomfortable and restless sleep, waking up whenever the smallest burst of noise disturbed me. It became harder and harder to fall asleep. When I woke up, it felt like I had only five minutes of rest, but actually it had been six hours.

The next day we escaped through the Syrian border and flew to South Africa.