It was a cold winter ,and Ahmed was wearing nothing but a single coat which was given to him by one of the passengers .Ahmed had already lost everything ; his family, his friends ,and almost his life .He had left his country running away from the savage war ,which prevented him from being a child ,and living his childhood as all other children who were his age .
One day ,he was setting in a public garden wondering the happiness of all those children who were there ,playing and laughing with their parents ,and remembering painfully how he had lost his own in the destruction of their house .He knew from his heart that there was nothing he could have done to help keeping his family alive ,and he felt sorry for that . He thought of moving on ,building a new life ,starting over ,but he was a mere Ten-year-old child .He could not work ,Or find a life-time job . The helps he used to get from some volunteers were the only thing that actually kept him from starving . with every new day ,he used to start a new adventure ,looking for a place where to spend the rest of the day .he was usually sleeping in public places ,where no one would yell on him saying ”find yourself a new home you naughty kid ” . For Ahmed ,people in this new country are two parts ; a part which is kind enough to understand the situation of Ahmed ,and does everything possible to help him ,and another part ,which looks at him with a furious face ,as If he had comitted some kind of a crime . He found himself stuck with these people ,realizing that he could do nothing to change the reality .
Another day came by ,and Ahmed found himself sleeping in a train-station , the untakeable noice made by the train and the walking-people awoke him in a very early time ;He couldn’t recall how he had reached that place ,Or why ! , But he decided to stay and pull himself together so that he can start a new long journey . His small feet were extremely painful ,because ,the day before ,he had to run for not to get caught after stealing an apple from a giant sailor . While he was thinking ,a strange feeling came to his heart ,he felt as if he was being watched ,someone ,somewhere,was watching him ,and trying not to be noticed . Suddenly ,he saw the shadow a man ,he thought ,coming towards him ,he couldn’t locate the identity of that person .He didn’t know the stranger.
The stranger was getting closer and closer ,and Ahmad’s thin heart ,was beating faster and faster …..”who is that person ? , why is he walking straight towards me ? what are his intentions ??” … , a lot of questions were in his tiny brain ,but no answers , He tried hardly to move ,but his small legs weren’t responding correctly to his willing ,they were frozen . Then ,he became face to face with the stranger . “Hello little kid ! ” ; Said the Stranger : ” what does someone your age do here in this very early time ?”
Ahmed could not feel his tongue ;he couldn’t utter a word ,but after a moment ,he murmured somthing :”I….am………I’m…..” . The Stranger interrupted him saying in a soft voice :”don’t be afraid Kid ,all I’m here for ,is to give you some help ….do you have a name ,.?”
“Ahmed” said the boy .Revealing his name would do no harm to him ,he thought ,….Then , the Stranger pulled Ahmed’s arm slowly saying “Come with me poor boy ,I shall give you all what you need , shelter ,food ,clothes ,and whatever you wish ,otherwise ,you’ll just die here wating for a miracle ”.
”Die” , it was the word which stuck in Ahmed’s heart and mind ,it took from him his family ,and a shiny life he used to live ,but it’ll not be the same word that will take from him his own life .
After a pause ,Ahmed said confidently : ”how can I trust you ? ” ,
the Stranger smiled ,looked away for a moment ,then turned his eyes to Ahmed ,and said : ” For you have absolutely no other choice “.
It was true ,Ahmed could not steal or depend on charities forever .sooner or later ,he will find himself alone ,and no one would be there to help him . The stranger standing in front of him ,may give him a chance to start over ,and forget his painful past.
Finally ,Ahmed decided to go with the stranger ,he decided to go through an unknown and strange future ,….what were the intentions of the stranger ? and what would he benefit from taking a week boy ? ! ,Ahmed did not know ,…and everyone pretends not to know ,for we all know the future of that innocent kid ,,,he is only one of many victims of a disastrous war in Syria , their only fault was their innocence !