the journey begins

it took a while for me to adjust to the brightness of the tunnel. the musty smell inside irritated my nose, and I began to sneeze. "Shhhhh! Do you want to be discovered?" one of the servants, Sharon, hissed at me. Not used to this treatment from servants, I was about to tell him off, until I remembered: we were escaping, from God knows what.

I was burning with curiosity, as much as I hated having to walk long distances in near-suffocating conditions in the tunnel. Once, I thought I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. But alas, it was just one of the servants who was stationed to serve as a marker. On a moment of impulse, I suddenly blurted it all out.

"Who are we escaping from? We are the Palestinians! It doesn't make sense for us to leave everything behind in Jerusalem. Are we going to stay in this accursed tunnel for the rest of our lives?"

"The Israelis are attacking Jerusalem. We had to leave. Your family were one of their targets."

I turned sharply to see who was speaking. It was the shortest serving servant in our household, Farez. What could be expected of him? His input was of no significance to me.

"Don't sprout nonsense! Jerusalem is our rightful home! According to my tutor, Prophet Muhammad had landed here in Jerusalem, how can anyone dispute that?"

I looked at Farez triumphantly, as if daring him to come up with a rebuttal.

"Whoever has been teaching you? How can you look at this war from just one perspective?"

Suddenly, I realised that I had been deceived and misled by my tutor at home.. This was war between the Israelis and the Palestinians. We were being forced out of Jerusalum by the damn Jews!

"We're headed to the Gaza," Sharon said. I nodded meekly. I had not expected this. What beckoned now, at the Gaza?