120
He looked at me and asked, “What’s wrong?” I looked away from him and whispered, “I don’t know myself. I feel lost. I’ve never thought that I could be running away from the government or even deleting my identity – everything seems surreal, like a dream and I don’t know if I should be mad at myself or you for putting me through this” as my tears were rolling down my cheeks, he picked me up and brought me to the end of the ship. He cleaned my ears with his fingers. And then he said the words that I will remember until the day I die.
“Fatima, the first time I saw you at the café, I knew you were special. There was this feeling I couldn’t control and it’s my fault that I brought you into this mess but I love you, Fatima. I won’t stop you from returning home if you want to leave.” As I saw his tears reflecting the moonlight and falling to the floor I leaned to him and whispered, “I want to stay with you.”