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was talking about paradise. Their soon-to-be home. Azar was young
herself, but she knew that their escape had changed her – even though
she missed the easy days of her childhood, she knew that she must be
an adult, for Omid’s sake. Even so, Azar held a similar sense of naivety,
in regards to their future. Arash saw her looking at her sister.
“Don’t lose hope yet,
doostam
.”
She didn’t look at him.
“We’re no closer to Australia than we were days ago, Arash. We
have no food left. We have no water. We are dying, every day. How
can I not?”
Noticing his lack of response, she murmured, more to herself
than to him,
“There is no hope.”
Azar felt Arash shift next to her, and felt him grasp her hand. She
looked at her friend. She was awed by the blaze in his eyes-
“We have made it this far. We are closer to escaping than we ever
have been, than many others will be. We will get to Australia,
doostam
.
I promise.”
Azar knew then that the most important thing on the boat wasn’t
food to eat or water to drink. It was the belief that they would reach
their haven. She turned back to watch her sister, renewed by the
hope that the girl embodied, that even her
name
meant, and clasped
Arash’s hand even tighter.
The next morning, Azar was woken again. This time, there
weren’t shouts of excitement, but screams. She grabbed Omid, who
had just stood up and was heading towards the deck,
“Stay here, Omi. Stay in this corner until I come back for you!”
Azar tried her best to ignore the look of utter fear in her sister’s
eyes as she kissed the top of her head and ran to the deck. The
captain was the first thing she saw, battling to steer the boat. She was
nearly knocked over by the force of the water that hit them then,
and looked overboard. The hazy sight of the rocks took her breath
away more than any physical blow, and as she clenched her fist hard
enough for her fingernails to cut into her palm, she felt hope
vanishing once more. The captain yelled, the other refugees
screamed, and a flash of lightning lit the boat for a mere second, but
what she saw made her blood run cold. The rocks must have come
up quickly; they now formed a terrifying façade on the right side of
the boat. Azar shivered, and looked to the other side. She saw the
Firdaus
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