Wednesday Write-Up: Children of Tomorrow

Every night, when Maya got into bed, she remembered a story her mother had told her.



"You are not going to sleep, little one. You are going on a journey to Tomorrow. And when you wake up, you will have travelled the hills and valleys of your imagination and landed in a different world."

Except she doubted her mother meant the world she had been waking up to for the past three days. A world where the earth throbbed under explosions, houses crumbled to dust and people lost vital parts of themselves to the war. Her mother had gone out to find water and had come back in a blanket. Maya could not remember when last her father held her and she could not predict when next she would eat. She could only hope that, when she closed her eyes, Tomorrow would be better. 

"You really should sleep now," said Mrs Rabbiyat. "You will need your strength for tomorrow."
"But I can't find Dolly," Maya said. "I always sleep with Dolly."
"You're a big girl, Maya. You don't need Dolly. Go to sleep."

The walls shuddered and wheezed under the impact of the latest shell. She could hear Mrs Rabbiyat praying. Maya closed her eyes and listened to the begging: for peace, for silence, for a new day. The next thing she knew, there were rough hands on her body. 

"Wake up, we're leaving." Her father looked panicked. It was the first emotion he had shown, other than devastation, since her mother's death. She gathered her blanket under her arm because it was too big for her to fold. Her school backpack contained only three things: a bottle of water, a locket with her mother's photograph and a piece of string.

"Hurry, hurry. Leave everything."

Ignoring her father, Maya stuffed the blanket into her backpack. It wouldn't close. She was close to tears. Her father was shouting. In the distance, a car alarm sounded and then the earth shook. She bit her lip and joined her father. He grabbed her shoulders.

"You're going to have to be brave now, Maya. Don't ask me questions and don't cry. Understand?"

She nodded. She would do it for her mother. She would show them how strong she was. Her father offered her his hand and dragged her down the street, muttering at her to be faster and quieter. She tried to ignore the ache in her belly. She had not eaten since yesterday when Mrs Rabbiyat gave her a handful of beans. They played a game of duck and run, hiding behind rubble, darting around corners, running and running until her legs hurt and her lungs burnt. The sky was turning pink above them and she kept looking up, thinking of how her mother was looking down on her and smiling at her courage. 

They got to a truck. 

"Up you go." 

Her father handed her to another man wearing a beret. Money crossed palms. He was leaving her. A hand clamped over her mouth and she raked the palm with her teeth.

"Remember what I told you, Maya? Be brave and be quiet."

As the truck moved, her father disappeared into the shadows. She watched through her tears as a shell landed metres from where he had stood. She closed her eyes and imagined him safe in the white clouds. 

She huddled into the corner and looked around. There were orphans like her. The two soldiers leant off the tailgate and smoked. 

"You know what they're saying?"
"What?"
"That these are the Children of Tomorrow. We've got a two-hour drive to the border and then..." He waved his hands.
The other man laughed. "I would go with them if it meant getting out of this shit hole."
"Where they're going, it's an even bigger shit hole." He realised fifty pairs of eyes were tracking him. "No worries, no worries. Go to sleep now. It's still dark."

From her corner, Maya watched the sunrise. It was Tomorrow, but she knew it would get worse before it got better.