The Path Chosen

          I heard a gun shot and my heart froze; I scouted around to find the local diner and ran inside. There was no one in the diner, "Hello" I said as I walked around slowly.

I heard a whisper say, "Over here." I crept around the corner to find a man, two women, and a younger child on the ground.

"What's going on?" I asked.           

"Quick get down, we are being attacked!" said the man.           

"Attacked?" I shouted and threw myself on the ground, feeling fear chill through my bones. "Who would be attacking us?" I asked.                                          The man replied, "The United States and their allies." I quickly crouched under the cabinet along with the man, women, and child, already hiding there.                 As I heard another gun shot, my teeth chattered. We could hear shouting even though we were behind closed doors. "What do we do?" I asked.                                "I suppose we wait it out," said one of the women.

The sky was turning dark and it started to rain.                                

"Why is this happening?" I asked myself, I didn't understand what was going on.                                              

We sat for a couple of more minutes until we heard the door squeak open. I looked around the corner while I could hear myself breathe. I saw a man with his gun aimed in the air, like he was looking for a target. His eyes locked with mine and told me to stand up, I stood. "Is there anyone else in this building?" he asked.              The man on the ground stood up and said,” Yes, my wife, sister, and child are in here."        

“I want all of you to go home,” The tall man commanded.                             “Alright,” said the man who crouched on the ground. He pushed the women, child and I walk in front of him.                              

When I got outside, I ran to my house, in the rain, and slammed the door behind me. I looked around for my parents and my little brothers. I walked through the house, wet, and saw that someone had trashed the house. I was angry because I thought it was my little brothers. While I snuck through the living room I saw two American soldiers looking through my parents’ mail. I hid around the kitchen corner so they wouldn’t be able to see me.                                                       

One of the soldiers winged around and to the other soldier said this, “There is nothing here, and I don’t think any of these people know anything about the order.” The other soldier shrugged and they both walked out of the house.          

The order I thought to myself. When I turn around my parents and brothers come into the house from the back door. “What are you doing?” I asked.               My mother’s response was not so simple, “Us? Where have you been, here we are getting attacked and you just now get home, you don’t know how sick I was to think that they had captured you.”                             

“Captured me?” I asked. “Why would the Americans do that? They sent me home. I think they are looking for something,” I replied.                                           

“What are you talking about Aban?” asked my father.                        

“Well, I heard them talking about an order, and that none of us know about,” I answered.                                                                        

“I wonder what that President of ours is up to now?” wondered my father. 

“What is happening?” I asked my father. “I think I should have the right to know; they were in the house.”

“I know,” said his father; “I just don’t want this to affect you like the others.”

“What are you talking about, father?” I asked.

“Well the order is order K it’s a secret mission to terrorize the United States.”

“Why would we want to terrorize the United States, Father?”

“The reason why I didn’t want you to know is because they are taking all men who know about the project,” Abans father said.

“But if you know, why aren’t you fighting?”

“I only hear the word on the street, boy. I don’t want us to go into war.”

“Look around honey; war is happening,” said my mother.

“They just bombed the old Sanders Building; I went passed there while I was running home.” I told them.

We ate supper and slept on the floor, just because my parents thought it would be better if we all stayed together.

After all that, I woke up bright-eyed waiting to see what would happen next.

I didn’t know how today would be different from yesterday, but I hoped it wouldn’t be worse. We all stayed home, waiting and watching out the window. All we could see is smoke and people walking around. I didn’t know what to expect, so I just sat around waiting for my dad to speak up and say something. The day seemed like it drug on and on, and I felt like I had to go do something.

          I walked outside while everyone was napping. I tried to be as quiet as I could, and I knew my mother would kill me if she knew I came out here. I turned around the corner and found so much shouting and American soldiers looking around. I still couldn’t understand what it was they were looking for. Before I could turn around I seen some of my people with guns and other things I have never seen before. They were running towards the Americans and I had a strange feeling. I felt like that the world was spinning and something bad was going to happen. The Americans haven’t shot anyone, they were just looking and keeping people in line. Some of my people were angry with them because they didn’t believe what they were saying. They told my people to stay indoors and not come out.

          My people started to shoot at these Americans and one by one, the Americans shot back. As people from both sides started to fall, the Americans wiped out seven of my people while three remained injured. A woman from the building ran out to see if she could help, but the Americans told her to go back inside.

          The Americans searched each building around the block. I was worrying about what they were searching for. I thought to myself that I would have to find that out on my own. I walked down the street on the opposite side where the Americans were and I hid in an alley just a little past the building. I saw the soldiers walk through another building door and heard a soldier say, “Where could he be?”

          “I don’t know, Mark.” The other man replied.

So they are looking for someone, I thought to myself. Who would they be looking for I wondered? Just then a name popped into my head; President Hussein. I heard that name before but we were never to use it. My parents always talked about him. I ran home to find my parents wide awake and angry.

“Where on earth have you been?” asked my mother.

“I went for a walk,” I said.

“It’s not safe to go walking around on your own,” added my father.

“Well, I found out what they are looking for,” I said proudly.

“What who are looking for?” asked my father.

“The Americans,” I replied.

My father gasped and sank into his chair.

“What do they want with Hussein?” I asked.

“Well Aban, since you are finding this out yourself, I think I should tell you.”

“No.” said my mother.

“I have to,” my father shot back. “Hussein is our Iraq president and he sent terrorists to the United States and they bombed their buildings and killed a lot of their people. Now they must be looking for him, here.”

“I have to help,” I said.

“What! No you are not,” stated my mother.

“I shall go also,” said my father.

With that my father grabbed my arm, took me in his room and gave me a gun.

“Now son, I know that this is dangerous, and your mother doesn’t want us to go out there, but I feel like I have to do something.”

“Father, I will go with you. I am almost a young man. I know what they want,” I begged.

“Well okay, take this gun and put some of these clothes on,” instructed my father.

We moved slowly, side by side down the streets of Baghdad. An American soldier stopped us and asked; “What are you doing out of your home?”

          “We are here to help you,” said my father.

          “What?” asked the soldier. “Do you think I am going to fall for that?”

“No,” said my father. “I have heard of the things Hussein has done to your people and I feel that he did that without informing anyone, and it should have never happened. My boy and I would like to help you find him.”

“Well, alright Sir, but no tricks. My name is Mark Anton,” said the soldier.

“I will inform the other men, so they don’t try to shoot you.”

          “Where haven’t you looked?” asked my father.

          “We’ve only checked these three blocks here on the corner.”

          “We should look on the West end of town,” stated my father.

          “Do you know for sure he is there?” Mark asked.

          “He has a factory over on the other side of town,” replied my father.

          “What does that factory produce?” asked another soldier.

          “No one actually knows, only the people who work in there,” said my father.

          We headed up the street to the other end of town. Mark informed all the men where we were going and how to enter the building. I felt like I was in an action movie. As we walked up to the end of the town, we saw the big brick building. I didn’t realize that this was a factory. I had never come to this end of the town before.

          When we entered the building, I seen smoke coming from the top. No one knew what was being manufactured.

          “We’d better send only a few people in at a time,” Mark said.

          He sent in three of his men to see if the area was safe.

          “All clear,” a man said on Mark’s radio.

          “Let’s move in,” said Mark. 

          At that point I was shaking and I was breathing harder than I ever have. We crept inside and saw darkness. When we got to the top of the stairs I looked down to find that the three men who went in before us were being attacked by my people.

          “There has to be twenty people down there,” said Mark.

          “What do we do?” I asked.

          “We have to go back down,” Mark said

          My father agreed and we hurried down the stairs. We ran around the corner and hid in the dark. Mark raised his gun and shot. My father, standing beside him, shot also.  I just stood there like a zombie not knowing what to do. I turned around and tripped over a dead body. I let out a yelp and saw a light come on. There were so many dead bodies surrounding me. I had never seen such a bloody massacre like this before.

          “Shoot, Aban,” my father said.

          “I, I, I can’t,” I stuttered.

          Just then I saw a man who looked formal and familiar. He was on a statue in town that the American soldiers had pulled down. Hussein, I thought to myself. We had found him! His people were scattered all over the building, bleeding dead.

          Hussein walked towards me and I started shivering. I knew he was a cold blooded murderer, and I was thinking about what he would do to me. He walked so swiftly and hunched over. In a blink of an eye four American soldiers surrounded him. As the American soldiers put up their guns and Hussein tried to run out between them but Mark grabbed him and pinned him on the ground. The other Americans ran around to rope him down and they dragged him out of the building, while President Hussein was yelling and trying to fight the Americans off of him. I watched as it happened and I felt like I couldn’t do anything. My father grabbed my shoulder, and I jumped.

          “Everything is going to be okay Aban,” he told me.

          “Thanks for letting me help father, even though I was weak and didn’t really do much,” I said.

          “Let’s go home,” said my father.

          As we scurried past the car that President Hussein was sitting in; a little tied up,  I wondered to myself if he would remember us if he ever got loose again.

          When we came home, my mother started to cry because she knew we were alright. And we all hugged each other and I felt good about what I had done, and that I had done something right to help my country and another. I got a good nights sleep that night, better than any night ever before.

          About a week later, the sun was shining and I was scrolling down the sidewalk reading the daily paper, and to my surprise I saw that Hussein was missing once again. The sky seemed to darken and clouds rolled in slowly. Then and there my heart stopped beating.

         

           

         

 

 

Please Don’t Say Good-bye

 

        From a distance of thee,

I miss you my friend, I swear,

And it’s only three,

 

For I’d swim to the sea,

If it would only be fair,

From a distance of thee,

 

As the waves hit so free,

I can no longer hear,

And it’s only three,

 

I see the sun and smile with glee,

And send you a flare,

From a distance of thee,

 

I think of a plea,

And all the things we share,

And it’s only three,

 

As it stings like a bee,

While the past is a blare,

From a distance of thee,

And it’s only three.

 

 

 

 

                        Mike Myers

            If you know Mike Myers,

            Please don’t give him pliers,

            For he is a stein,

            That can easily break his spine.

 

                       If Only, If Only

            If I had a buck,

            You’d be out of luck,

            Because I’d steal your truck,

            And run to tuck.

Butter Man

            There was a guy made out of butters,

            Whose fears kept him from cutters,

            He lived in a bowl,

            That got a hole,

            And now he only flutters.

 

                                    Into the Wilderness

            A camel that jumps,

            Who has mighty humps,

            Just fell over a log,

            From the blindness of the fog,

            And now he only has bumps.

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