A glisten, and a war
Hassan let out a sigh as his palms grasped the sand of his beloved safe place. The sand had a heartbeat, and felt like a pet between his hands. No other sand in the world compares to the sand of Gaza’s beach. Everything is flawless there. To Hassan, the word ‘Nostalgia’ was born on that beach; he felt deeply connected to it, and whenever he struggled, he had always heard whispers directing him to the windows of his room –where the sea is visible– or to the sea itself.
On the 6th of October, 2023, the whispers in Hassan’s soul walked his legs to his safe place, and sat him on the shore with his hands holding his bent knees. Hassan smiled in amazement of how powerful this voice inside him was – and began admiring the waves’ motion and what it carried: algae, someone’s lost slipper, and maybe a love letter inside a bottle; and during this special moment, he saw a glisten close to his toe, from the corner of his eye.
Hassan’s movement was, thankfully, quicker than the waves’, and now he had that beauty sitting gracefully on his palms. It was the most precious thing in the world. He held it to his heart and whispered words of true endearment to it. The pearl must’ve heard him, and decided to slowly, slowly open its shell and reveal its beauty to Hassan. What Hassan had seen at that moment was unforgettable: an ivory-white, small full moon. He spent the entirety of his time at the beach admiring it up close, and has decided to continue admiring this beauty at home, so he carefully placed it in his pocket and hummed a lovely melody on his way.
As soon as his legs stepped in his house, he sprinted to his sibling’s room and introduced him to his pearl. Hassan narrated to Mohammed how he had spotted it and how it took his breath away before and after it lost its veil, and what melodies he sang for it on the way home. He was obviously deeply infatuated, according to his brother, which was true —perhaps even an understatement. After Hassan’s long session about his pearl with his sibling, he went to his room with the company of Pearl. He rested on his bed with it placed right on his chest, hoping it’d hear his heartbeat while he recited poems to it; If this pearl was a person, then it’d be the quickest person someone has ever fallen in love with on this earth. Hassan has let all of his heart’s words out, and now he must rest so he can let more out tomorrow.
The date is the 7th of October, and it’s another day for Pearl to be admired by Hassan, but the white trails in the sky decide to interrupt them. It’s war, and Hassan is worried for his Pearl. He holds it tighter than yesterday to his chest as he listens to the TV news; he’s afraid of their last moment’s visit. He takes his eyes off the news reporter to admire Pearl one more time in case he leaves this world without notice, and the sight he had seen drained every color out of him.
His beloved pearl has lost its shine out of fear, and it may not return– unless this war ends. Hassan used all the muscles in his brain to think of ways to protect his innocent pearl from this nightmare, but he couldn’t come up with anything good enough. Hassan is just a teen at the end of the day, and no teen is powerful enough to stop a war – especially a Gazan one. A gut-wrenching thought crossed his mind, but he refused to give in to it, and decided to continue his quality thought hunt away from that one specific dreadful idea. The day has come to an end and Hassan has still yet not met his savior, though, and the more time that passes, the more he finds himself cornered by that one idea.
All of that brainstorming fatigued him, and his lids uncontrollably closed, forcibly opened back again to get one more glimpse of his treasure – in case it was the last – then rested them again.
The bombings and the screaming of neighbors woke exhausted Hassan up. It was the second day of war, and decision day for him and Pearl. The bombing got closer, and the screaming got louder, leading Hassan having to make a quick decision for Pearl’s sake. His soul whispered to him like how it did before, and Hassan’s heart shattered into tiny fragments because he realized what he must do.
With Pearl in his pocket, he hummed his melodies and recited his poems in an attempt to distract it from the bombings and the terror people on the street around him felt. Maybe he even tried to distract himself, too. He was petrified. War had always been his biggest fear, but he couldn’t let his precious pearl know because of how it might feel. If he were a pearl, he wouldn’t be happy to experience a war on the second day without its shell, he’d rather go back to his safe place; and this was the idea Hassan had avoided earlier.
The duo arrived at the beach, and even though it was different due to the absence of kids’ laughter and fishermen’s boats, it still remained the pearl’s safe place, too. A burning tear glided down his cheek – he mouthed a ‘thank you’ to the sea, and gently placed the pearl where he had first found it. Hassan then grabbed a little rock and threw it in the distance, and wished endless love for this precious, precious pearl. He walked away from this goodbye moment, and felt the imprint of that pearl on his heart and soul. He’ll never forget how he loved that little full moon. With mixed feelings, he left back home humming his melodies; back to the exposure of losing more loved ones, back to more sacrifices, back to war.
Sara, a Palestinian citizen of the world.
I wanted to study psychology to help others through the trauma I’ve been through, and even though my university was completely destroyed I remain adamant to my goal of helping others, of sharing my hope and compassion with the world, so that they know that we too are human.