By Arezo Noori
Translated by Asadullah Jafari “Pezhman”
He always remembered his three brothers who were martyred on the way to the homeland. He told me that his dream is martyrdom in the motherland’s way. Yama was the only breadwinner in the house, and his family did not want him to join the national army. God forbid that he will never return like his brothers.
But he had no choice; what should he do? Not only did he love his country, but he had to work for his family. Despite all the differences, Yama became a soldier of the National Army. He bravely defended his country and died in the name of his homeland. When the republican system collapsed, everyone was disarmed. So, Like thousands of other soldiers, Yama returned home with a bowed head. In these two months that the new government has come.
Allowance from the government for the soldiers, not only the soldiers, has not been paid to everyone. Yama’s economic situation was not good a few days ago, and he was moaning and telling stories about his poor financial situation with me. What did Yama say her six-month-old baby should eat? What should his nephews, mother, wife, and his sister eat? He said that it had been a few nights that they lived only with dried bread. I felt sorry for him. I helped him with a bit of money. I also had no money because there was no work in the city, and I was unemployed.
Last night, I was sitting at home with all the sadness when suddenly a loud noise shook the whole place. It was the sound of a big explosion. At the same time, Yama called me and said in a tired and depressed voice: Karim! I am at the airport, and I was wounded, there was an explosion here, and there are many martyrs. Please come and help me. I hurried to the airport. Because he was my childhood friend, I could not be careless. When I got there, his clothes were red and full of blood. The color of blood was all over him. I took Yama on my shoulder and ran towards the airport exit. On the way, he said to me with tears in his eyes:
I wanted to go abroad for a good life and only because of my family… Now I have no hope left. If you see my child grow up, when he grows up, never tell him that I was a failed army officer. Here, my dignity was broken, and I could not even find dry bread for my family…
I was consoling him and told him to be calm, and everything will be fine, my friend. But he didn’t believe it. He said: Yes, But I’m going. I am going to complain to God about all this darkness and oppression. Here, no one cares about our words anymore…
I was running towards the exit gate and listening to Yama’s words. I didn’t know what happened all of a sudden. I was a few steps away from the exit gate when another loud noise hit me, and I finally fell to the ground. My head was getting confused, and I didn’t understand. I got up again with a trembling and scared body. I understood that this was a second explosion. But I didn’t care about it.
I had to save Yama. Yama had fallen from my shoulder to the other side. I hugged him again as soon as I approached the ambulance. I realized that Yama was not breathing anymore. He had already gone to tell God what misfortunes he had suffered in the national army or what his six-month-old child would do! But now, what will Yama’s family do? How will his mother tolerate his death? Friends and loved ones of Yama and thousands of other Yamas in the national army and… I stayed, and the questions that eat my brain.
In Remembrance of Martyrs of the National Army
Arezo Noori is an English literature student at Balkh University, a story writer, and the writer of 94 short stories. Mrs. Noori always wants to express the pain and suffering of people, especially women, through short and true stories.
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