The sun is like a giant fireball burning the village, the wind is dry and hot. Argan trees next to the shaggy cafe house can barely provide any shade, seats that are facing the street are empty. A tumbleweed is rolling by itself in the middle of the road.
Inside of a small cement single-story house. An oil lamp, a wooden desk, and a bed that can barely fit two people are in the house. A wool blanket is neatly folded on the floor, packages are lying on the clay floor, two khobz(crusty bread) a bowl of harira (Moroccan soup) are the only food in the house.
Omer, the 7 year old son blinks, his big shiny eyes filled with hope. "Mama, are you going to be okay soon? I miss your cooking. I don't like the food sister made us the past few weeks."
Mama has been sick because of respiratory infection for months, she is getting worse. Mama squeezes a smile on her face and strokes Omer's curly hair with her hand, it's more like a skeleton than hand. She coughs and coughs till blood covers her palm.
Later at night, Aisha, Omer's teenage sister is finally back home. Her eyes keep closing, she can't even stand straight anymore. The bag of spices she was supposed to sell at the market today is still half full, by the time she’s back, it is freezing outside, her toes are curled tightly, sand and stones keep blowing on her skinny body. She goes to Mama's bed to say hi, she kisses Mama on the cheek, only to finds out her body is cold and stiff. Tears are dropping like a broken pearl necklace, she bathes Mama immediately, scrubbed every inch of her body, washed every strand of her hair, used every drop of water.
Mama is fully shrouded and buried by Omer's dad, his eyes are red and his body is shaking. Omer's dad works as a spice wholesale far away from the village. He traveled all night to come back home.
Omer asks curiously, ”Is Mama ever coming back? "Omer's dad looks at Omer and then Aisha, nothing comes out from his cracked lips. The "doctor" of Mama which is an experienced camel breeder and the old lady from next door were here, they sighed deeply and left the burial. Ever since Mama got sick, everyone knew this day would come eventually.
The bright steamy hot sun is in the middle of the sky, no clouds or wind. The street is burning, smoke is coming out from the cracks of the ground. The sky is so blue, yet there are no birds, humans, or even a tumbleweed living under it. Argan trees' leaves are crispy and drained by the heat, even shrubs and bushes are dead, the bare stony grounds in between them are naked and exposed.
Inside of the house is Omer sleeping on the bed, his dad and sister are packing. Aisha can't even lift the family water bag anymore and Dad's rib cages are poking through his shirt. Dad left the rest of the spices that he couldn't sell in a bag in the corner. And knocks on the old lady's door. The old lady stumbled and opened the door with only a small crack, she's alone, her family left her a week ago.
Dad kneed down and begged her with tears in his eyes, "Please take care of Omer, please. "She places her wrinkly hand on Dad's shoulder and strokes gently. "It's not your fault. I understand.”
Later at night, inside of the house, a roasted goat leg is placed on the wooden desk, steamy hot, the smell woke Omer up. Dad and Aisha are sitting by the table, staring at the fat, nicely seasoned, oil-covered goat leg. Aisha keeps swallowing her saliva, dad served them mint tea as well.
Dad squeezes a smile on his face, "Finally some real food, am I right?" Omer runs to the table with a big smile on his face. Dad splits the goat leg and gives Omer the bigger piece, his plate is empty.
Before going to bed, Dad takes out a compass from his pocket. He
tucks Omer in bed and hands him the compass. "Omer, my son, if you ever get lost, remember to use the compass to guide your way. Be my son in the next life, I owe you everything." Omer looks at the compass and the packages on the floor. "Dad, where are we going?" Dad kisses Omer on his forehead and turns the oil light off.
The next morning, Omer rubs his eyes while yawning, he gets out of bed and the packages on the floor are gone, he walks outside the house to look for his dad and sister, but no one is there. He scratched his hair and knocked on the old lady's door. The old lady opens the door and lets Omer in. "Do you know where my dad and sister are? And what happened to your family? Why are you alone? "
The old lady sat Omer down and explained to him that because of the drought, people can no longer live in this village anymore. With Omer's mom being sick the past few months they couldn't travel with her. And there is no food, water, or money. People that can take care of themselves left the village gradually and went to find a new place to live in. Since the journey is filled with question marks and doubts, the old and the young are being left in the village. Omer screams and cries, he throws the compass his dad gave him last night on the floor. It cracks a big gap in it. The old lady tries to run after him but couldn't catch him. He runs back home and the only thing left is that bag of spices in the corner. Omer starting to pack, he stuffs the spices and a small blanket in. His left foot is about to cross the door but the old lady reaches the door by the time Omer is trying to run away and hands him the compass. She led him back to her home and cooked him a meal.
Old lady, "Eat Omer, eat while there's still food left." Omer didn't touch the food, he looked at his broken compass with tears in his eyes the entire time. Later at night, the old lady is asleep on her bed, Omer gets hungry and takes the food that's left on the table and sneaks out of the house. He looks at the broken compass and left it at home, he packed the spices and the rest of the food.
Omer carries his bag on his shoulder, he searches the stores on the street but there's barely anything, he trades some of his spices for two khobz and leaves the village. He wants to find his dad and sister. He keeps walking and walking. The sun is burning the ground, Omer tries to walk under the shade but there's not even a single tree. Under the endless sky, he is the only living thing that's moving.
The sky is no longer bright, after the sunset, the wind keeps blowing heavier and heavier, sands and stones on the road are being blown everywhere. Even the cactus on the side are shaking. It's pitch dark, there's no light. The only thing that's out there is the continuous, harsh sound of the wind. It's freezing.
Omer doesn't know what to do. He looks around and has no idea where he is. He wants to go back to the old lady's house but he can't find the way back anymore. He grabs a hand full of sand and throws it angrily in the air. He wishes he had the compass with him. His legs are shaking and his little body is shivering. Tears are streaming down from his eyes, dirt is sticking on his tiny face. There's sand in his eyes, he keeps rubbing his eyes, but it doesn't help anything, it just keeps getting worse and worse. Omer whimpering to himself, "I want Mama."
Omer wakes up to the hot bright sun on the sky, he tries to swallow some saliva, but his throat is as dry as the desert he's in. He rubs his eyes and sees that from not far away there are three to four people away from him. He drags his body to follow them.
It's a family, there are a mom, dad, and two boys. The dad tries to walk faster as Omer gets closer, one of the boys that looks like the same age as Omer stops and looks back at Omer.
Omer begs, "Can I have some water, please? I don't have any money but I can trade spices with you, please."
The dad drags his son and tries to walk even faster. But this time the mom can't take her eyes away from Omer either. She whispers something into the dad's ear but the dad looks at his kids then looks back at her and shakes his head. However, the mom slows down against the dad's will and waits for Omer to reach her. She pours water into Omer's mouth from her shriveled water bag. She wipes off Omer's tears from his tiny face, knees down to Omer's height.
Omer begs with tears in his eyes, "Please take me with you, you can
have all my spices." She tries to say something through her chapped lips but nothing comes out. She blows the sands from Omer's eyes and cleans his messy hair. She hugs him for a whole minute, the hug is so tight that Omer can barely breathe.
The hug reminds brings back memories of how his mom used to hug him, he misses his mom more than ever at this moment, tears roll down on his dry little cheeks. She kisses Omer on his forehead with tears in her eyes and pushes him away. Unsure what to do, he watched as she caught up to her family. As the distance between them continued to grow, the son looks back at him again and waves him goodbye.
At night, the sounds of the wind sound like ghosts screaming and crying, Omer is terrified. He finds a rock and hides behind the rock, it helps a little with the cold, but he's still shivering. Omer puts his hands on his tummy, all he can feel are his rib cages. He tries to stop his stomach from making sounds because of hunger, he keeps retching. Omer cried his eyes dry, he squints his eyes to feel better and he sees mama coming his way, with her hand reaching out to him. Mama no longer looks sick, her long flourished brown hair is flowing down on her full, round shoulders. Mama's eyes are smiling at Omer, it's like a shiny little moon.
Mama holds Omer's hands and surrounded him with her arms, "Omer, my baby, come with me. I will lead you to reunite with dad and Aisha. Dad sends me here to bring you back to the new home we have found. Your sister misses you so much, she can't wait to play with you again.”
A big satisfied smile appears on Omer's face, mama's hands feel so soft and she smells so sweet it's like the smell of the almond cookies she used to make for Omer. "What about the spices that dad left me? Should I bring this back to him?" Omer asks. Mama holds Omer in her arm and carries the small bag of spices. "Yes, baby. People love our spices there, we sell so many spices that we can afford to eat three meals every single day. Let's go. Your dad and sister can't wait to see you."
At noon, the sun shines aggressively on Omer's little body behind the stone. His shoes got blown away but Omer held on to the bag of spices so tightly that it is still with him. Omer shrank his body like a fetus, a fulfilled smile appears on his face. Several vulture spirals above him. Under the endless sky, Omer seems even tinier than he is. Vultures fly closer and closer to him.
The End.
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