Life at its Purest

By: Evan Sahraeain 

Part two

That single room was everything for us kitchen bedroom, living room, shower, the floor, and the walls were just soil it was a jungle of all sorts of bugs, the door had an iron frame in some parts it was not fully connected to the wall so that was a perfect place for a swing, with no second thoughts my mother did it for me, but then one of the men who worked there came and explained by hand gestures that, the entire house will collapse and I will die under it, we had to bring down the swing, staying alive was more important than that.

Meanwhile, everyone else was supposed to work, I believe that place was a desert, that is why it was a perfect place to make bricks, our jobs well not me but all of my family even my siblings who were 4 and 5years older than me were working from sun up until they prepare the specific amount of bricks they were given to, each family was working in one field, all the resources were water clay and some molds the kids were using those that can make 3 bricks, adults were using the six brick ones. The jobs started by bringing down the clay which looked like small hills then make small pools, put water in the middle of, leave it overnight, in the morning when you come back you have mix those which had the water in it to make it into a paste, when it is ready, then it is poured into the molds, each one will bring their wooden molds to fill it with the clay and take it to a clean place, leave it until they are dry, after that when they get dry they would put it on top of each other then owner of the camp would come and take it to the kiln or the big room it was as hot as hell itself, sometimes I would go around that place some small pieces would come out completely fried, I would find weird shapes, those were my toys I still remember one of them looked like a pigeon that one was my favorite my sister found it but she gave it to me.�

This place was full of adventure for me I loved it there, sometimes I would go on top of one of those hills and pretend this was all my kingdom with a shovel in my hands, I would do the honors of bringing down some clay for them and slide down, then my other duty which I was completely in charge of was checking the small pools to make sure they don�t leak, if they just let it leak would be easier for them, because every time I would have found one I started shouting and making a whole drama out of it like it was the end of the world, how much I enjoyed discovering them if I had saved the world I wouldn�t be that proud of myself. in the morning when we were going to start working my brother was putting me on his shoulders and sing for me all the way,  my mother was taking cold ��salty�� water and a blanket so if I wanted I could sleep, I still believe it was easier for them to work when I was falling asleep, I think I was around seven years old, I was so talkative they would pay me to stay quiet for one hour, it is not like money was any use for me there no shops or any junk food that I could buy. There were times I wonder where did those bricks we made went, did they go in building in a big fancy home for someone, were they a happy family because a happy family made them, did they have any idea that they were made by children, and underpaid people, and working there against their will! I hope it gives them a warm and happy home.

It has always amazed me how humans can get used to any situation, after a while the job, heat, salty water, and bugs were all normal, there were times camels would come by and the only green living plant on the ground was some sort of spiky plant it had tiny things that looked like grapes, I was dying to test it but my mother never let me she was saying only camels can eat it, that was my first time to see a camel, in real life, the way it spits was my favorite and my wish was they would spit on my brother just once, but they never did.

One night my sister and I were sitting in front of the door, she saw some men ducking and running with swords in their hands, right away she told my mother apparently during the day one of the families decided to run away, and the manager found out, so they were going after them, my mother and oldest brother started telling all the other families, everyone brought their shovels and lanterns and followed the men they blocked them halfway started throwing stone so they can delay them and family would be far away the men wouldn�t be able to find them, most of the families there we were all from the same country so they saw it as their duty to help out, the only person who didn�t help out, was the man who told on the family. I remember they used to call him �squirrel� I don�t know why maybe he looked like one! After they were sure the family was safe, people started thinking about if that family left in secret that means they didn�t take their stuff, it became a treasure hunt, the door was locked there was only one small window in the back, adults couldn�t fit in, my sister went in and brought the bread, that was the only thing we took, after a while, when the situation calmed down again, on the corner, there were three or four men they lived together one of them was a teacher he was my favorite, they ran away too.�

We heard the news that the government found out about those camps they were coming and taking the workers and deport them, my family separated, each two were hiding in one place, my mother and I were in a hole she covered us with a big muddy plastic it was hot dirty and steamy under that plastic but that was the only thing separating us for what we thought to be our freedom, they passed by us and didn�t see us, one of my brothers and my sister they ran off to a different camp to hide my oldest brother was in the field, but the brother that I said he was sick, was the first one to volunteered to go and sit in the bus when we heard they captured him there was no point in hiding anymore, we started to gather our belongings with a very small amount of money, we also went to the bus, there were the driver two police officers and my brother who was sitting tall and proud. From here the long journey of coming home begins. We sat in that bus for hours there were about thirty people in it,

There was a couple they fought all the way, one time the wife throw our stove at the husband my mother got angry because she ruined it, I don�t know why they were fighting but it was intense and funny, another time when the bus slowed down she threw out the husband from the bus, they were drama all the way. After many hours of driving the bus stopped somewhere everyone got off the bus to use the restroom. After that, they brought a lot of boiled eggs and bread for all the passengers. Then we went on the bus again, the driver loaded the bus into a ship while we were in it, for me seeing a ship for the first time, that was that big that a bus can dock inside it looked like a dream, I still regret not getting off the bus to see how it looked liked. I am not quite sure how long all this took, but I know staging in the camp was about two months, after reaching the border they left us and went back, there was a camp with many tents like those military dark green tents, we shared one with another family, it was our first night and we didn�t have any information about what to do or not to do, we were very thirsty my mom took a pan to bring some water from the spring, suddenly we heard gunfire outside, apparently, they saw my mothers shadow and they started shooting at her. when she came back inside the woman told her you should never go outside because both sides of each country will shoot at you whatever you have to do, do it during day time.it was a dangerous place for any human being to live in, after few days we came back to one� of the cities in our country, there was a public park all families like us were staying there, basically, we were refugees in our own country, my mother hanged four blankets to give us privacy, she made that was our new home, what a beautiful view it was to have a big living tree inside your room, with a swing on it, there were many kids that we could play with, the best part was we were speaking the same language, sometimes a pickup would come with cooked ready meals for everyone, my mother was not letting us go she felt ashamed if we accepted any sorts of help, its something I still can�t accept, she would say ��we are not beggars��

I think once or twice my brother and sister sneaked out to go to the pickups, in the back of the pickups there were big pots once they opened the top the smell of rice and beans was covering the whole area, steam was coming out of it like a trapped cloud trying to escape and go back to the sky where they belonged. our stay here took less than a month after the first rain it became difficult to stay in the park, both my mother and brother were looking for jobs but they didn�t find anything good, so my brother wrote a letter to a relative to come to convince my mother to go back, while he stayed there, the relative came he asked my mother to go back, with a heavy heart my mother decided it was school time again, we have to go back or we will miss one year of school, so we went back.

Apart from all the hardships we went through, I was always happy, no matter where we were or what we were doing the second my mother was saying it was time to go I was ready, I knew as long as I have her by my side I will be safe, and that is all we needed, maybe that is all what a child needs, my siblings were older so it must have been harder for them, they felt more, maybe they were even ashamed of living in a park for me it was a forest and my new kingdom. How amazing life would have been if we stayed that innocent, with a simple view of life, all you need is your loved ones and four walls to protect, to be enough to be happy and enjoy life as it is, now it looks like we are hypnotized by the world we created to distract us from living, as life should be we keep waiting for �� the tomorrow� for that dream job, for big the opportunity, jumping from one screen to another, until one day we might wake up and see that life has gone by without us noticing, and then we will not be able to do anything anymore.�