SQN - Sine Qua Non - Issue Two - Journal - Page 33
SINE QUA NON
FIRST PLACE WINNER — CREATIVE PROSE
Christine Estima
Qamariyyah, the Moon
INSPIRING CHANGE
She heard the men in uniforms were coming. Nearly all the school children had been
evacuated the day before. Qamariyyah could see their staggered, hurried footprints writing
out directions in the mud. Aitaroun was dissonantly quiet and every small noise could be
heard across the oelds. |e wind reminded her of the whoosh that came from her balcony
when Ummi would beat the carpets over the courtyard.
A grainy, golden mist split the sky after everyone was gone. |e odour of burning
burdock and salt hung in the air. |ose that remained lay silently in their tents as drones
hummed overhead. |e night sky was blotted by white and blue squares, napping in the
wind, occasionally calming just enough to see a Star of David.
|e aid workers in blue berets would not look Qamariyyah in the eye. |ey insisted
she stand at least two metres away.
