Like Xuanzang and company , Ahed had grown up hearing stories of Sun Wukong and his incredible powers . She used these stories of heroics and bravery to compare with her own life and struggles , using them for , as a child does , to imagine that she , instead of being a child refugee and running away , is having adventures to a faraway land with Sun Wukong as her companion , and them fighting demons together , as her childish mind tries to protect her and shy her away from the traumatic events that are actually occuring around her .
In her mind , she was Xuanzang , with Sun Wukong as her companion and helping her through the journey . Her family were Pig and Sand , people that were just along for the ride , but key to her story nonetheless .
Every time she felt overwhelmed , she would take out the little comic book that Xu Hui had given her . She would trace the images of every page for the thousandth time as her main source of comfort .
This latest journey she hoped would be her family ’ s last . Her mother took the keys to their house , their passports , photographs and all her gold , and tied them in a tight wad to stick in her waistband . Her father Shahid had stayed behind , telling her and her brother Fares to take care of their mother Mumina .
From their home they traveled by sea to the Turkish coast , their boat nearly capsizing in the turbulent seas crossing the Aegean sea across to Lesbos . They had to stay more than a month in a no man ’ s land . Her mother traded her wedding dowry for the family to buy a passage through , travelling on foot from Greece to Macedonia , hoping to cross to Germany .
When a country barred refugees like Ahed from entering and caused them to move on even further into Europe , it wasn ’ t because the government was selfish to her . No , it was because there was a dangerous creature that was blocking their way that she and Sun Wukong weren ’ t destined to fight , and so they moved on .
When she and her family barely had enough food and water to stay alive , it was because this was a test for endurance and patience , and that she and Sun Wukong would be rewarded for their patience once they settled down and this time period passed .
This time , she thought , our next great adventure will be to face off against a giant fire-breathing dragonlike creature . We ’ ll fight him together , me and Sun , and though it may be hard in the beginning , we ’ ll win in the end . Just like that ! ‘ Cause we two together are greater than any other force in this world ! We ’ ll defeat anything , or anyone that stands in our w-
But Ahed could only hide behind daydreams for so long . “ Hey .” A hand was shaking her shoulder . “ Hey . Hey . Snap out of it !” “ Wh- what is it ?” She sat up straight and looked at the person who had shaken her out of her stupor , Fares .
“ Mom said we have to eat breakfast , then leave this place .” Her brother stood up and walked to where their parents were .
She sighed . Every day they moved from place to place , not able to stay in one area for long , her parents desperately searching for a place to settle down for at least a couple more years , for her and her little brother to settle down and have a chance to learn to read .
As they prepared to leave , a soldier ’ s voice suddenly blared through a loudspeaker , speaking in broken Arabic , “ The border has closed . There will be no one crossing anymore .”
Her mother was desperate and traded her last gold , her wedding ring , for a passage . They were eventually given a chance to pass , but they were forced to cross in the evening .
Like Xuanzang and company, Ahed had grown up hearing stories of Sun Wukong and his incredible
powers. She used these stories of heroics and bravery to compare with her own life and struggles, using them
for, as a child does, to imagine that she, instead of being a child refugee and running away, is having
adventures to a faraway land with Sun Wukong as her companion, and them fighting demons together, as
her childish mind tries to protect her and shy her away from the traumatic events that are actually occuring
around her.
In her mind, she was Xuanzang, with Sun Wukong as her companion and helping her through the journey.
Her family were Pig and Sand, people that were just along for the ride, but key to her story nonetheless.
Every time she felt overwhelmed, she would take out the little comic book that Xu Hui had given her. She
would trace the images of every page for the thousandth time as her main source of comfort.
This latest journey she hoped would be her family’s last. Her mother took the keys to their house, their
passports, photographs and all her gold, and tied them in a tight wad to stick in her waistband. Her father
Shahid had stayed behind, telling her and her brother Fares to take care of their mother Mumina.
From their home they traveled by sea to the Turkish coast, their boat nearly capsizing in the turbulent seas
crossing the Aegean sea across to Lesbos. They had to stay more than a month in a no man’s land. Her
mother traded her wedding dowry for the family to buy a passage through, travelling on foot from Greece
to Macedonia, hoping to cross to Germany.
When a country barred refugees like Ahed from entering and caused them to move on even further into
Europe, it wasn’t because the government was selfish to her. No, it was because there was a dangerous
creature that was blocking their way that she and Sun Wukong weren’t destined to fight, and so they m �ٕ�)���)]����͡��������ȁ�����䁉�ɕ�䁡������՝�����������݅ѕȁѼ��х䁅��ٔ���Ё݅́�����͔�ѡ�́݅́��ѕ�Ё���)����Ʌ����������ѥ����������ѡ�Ё͡������Mո�]խ����ݽձ�����ɕ݅ɑ�����ȁѡ��ȁ��ѥ����������ѡ��)͕�ѱ�����ݸ�����ѡ�́ѥ�����ɥ������͕��)Q��́ѥ����͡��ѡ�՝�а���ȁ���Ё�ɕ�Ё��ٕ���ɔ�ݥ������Ѽ����������������Ё������Ё��ɔ��ɕ�ѡ�����Ʌ����)������ɕ���ɔ��]��e�������Ё����ѽ��ѡ�Ȱ��������Mո������ѡ�՝���Ё��䁉����ɐ����ѡ�������������ݗ�e���ݥ�)���ѡ�������)��Ё�����ѡ�Є��a
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