Melisa Dora YILDIRIM
Leaving … leaving my home , leaving the place where I was born , leaving the place where I said my first words , where I took my first steps , where I went to school , the place where I found my first crush , and the last place that I felt hope . I watched as all of my friends died or went overboard . Now I am leaving everything behind . I don ’ t remember how all of this happened . I can ’ t remember my school life anymore . It is like a blank - which has now been painted in black . But we need to survive , we need a better life . Everyone deserves a life without wars , death , and loss . We protected our area for almost two years . Two days ago they bombed us . After that everything changed . They are here now . Everywhere . We don ’ t have any supplies to survive . This is why we have to leave . If we don ’ t , then we are dead . After all of this heartbreak , aching thoughts run through my brain , but now I am starting to think logically . I grabbed the biggest bag I could carry and started to fill it with food . I grabbed my favorite clothes and the most comfortable ones . If I have to die , then I want to die beautifully . I put my Sugiş , my fluffy hippo , away for safekeeping . I need something to remember that once there was a cute little girl inside me . I hug my dog tight as I realize that he has no clue about what is happening . He thinks we are going on a trip and he is scared that we will leave him behind . We won ’ t . As I sit in our car I look . I look at the small world , the life I had . Now it ’ s time to leave .
Lal BARIŞ
I went to school this morning . I had so much fun . When the school day ended , I went home . When I opened the door , I saw that Mom and Dad were panicking . I had never seen them like that before . I asked Mom what the problem was and Mom said that we had to leave Izmir forever . I started to cry . Mom said that I should collect my things quickly . I went straight to my room . I grabbed my stuffed animals , test books , phone , photos and clothes . “ Everything was normal 2 hours ago , how could this be happening ?” I thought to myself . How did my life change so quickly ? I started crying again . Mom came and kissed my cheek and said that I shouldn ’ t worry but I couldn ’ t calm down . Dad came and grabbed our luggage . We went downstairs to get into the car and Dad started driving away from our home . We went to the airport . Our flight left two hours after we arrived . Dad said that it was too far away and that we should take an earlier flight . I asked Dad where we were going . Dad said that we were going to Thailand . I was shocked when I hear this . How will we go to school ? There were so many questions going through my head . I also had another problem ; I was as hungry as a wolf so Mom gave me a sandwich . She could tell that I was hungry even without me saying anything . Dad said that it was time to board the plane . We got on the plane and as it started to fly away , I could feel my eyes closing . When I woke up we were in Thailand . We took a taxi to a hotel but they wouldn ’ t let us stay there because we were refugees . Then we went somewhere that smelled like socks and Dad told us that we had to wait there while he went to look for work so that we could afford food and shelter . It was so cold in that place and we started freezing It has been three years now and we are still waiting ...
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