As We Know It

Predestined

Bengi was being carried to the emergency while the boys walked. She was barely holding on to a soldier's arm and had her chin slanted on the man's shoulder.  Her eyes did not look very lively.  Before the soldier was halfway across the alley, she came to her senses and merely called out for her brother to check out on him. The soldier pat her hair and assured he was close by. 

Benumbed by the dementia she went through, Bengi's brain operated almost completely instinctively. Her nervous system was malfunctioning after the bombardment of Neurol electric shocks it had gone through, her body was dehydrated and shaking. She would hardly be able to respond if she were called at. The young-lings were all exhausted yet they were approaching slowly another stage of their early lives. The walk through the alleyway would be the final point separating these children from the last memory of their villages. Their last memory being the young military personnel who found and protected them from the people who begrudged them life with their families and loved ones. 

Now, I know it's too soon to mention this but there's simply no good in keeping back some facts, even at this point in the story. 

Whenever a day becomes too agitating, people can sometimes observe that the wind will stop still suddenly. Trees might start shedding their leaves even in springtime, and with enough humidity in the air, I tend to get quite cloudy - all out of distress. We get stressed by a phenomenon I'd like to name divine eavesdropping. It's when Fate bestrides and lurks into the course of life and it's never less than a startling experience for all.

Fate intensifies in a scene at any particular moment it desires. I've seen people experience its presence by feeling hazy all of a sudden. They also can feel a need to grasp some air, might get inexplicably emotional, experience acute chest pain or simply get impatient for no reason at all. Bewildered, humans try to rid the oppression caused by the invisible tension in vain. It does not matter why or when pressure deepens. The instant Fate starts examining every move of a certain moment very closely, creatures of all sorts can feel it. 

We wouldn't get surprised if Fate settled in at peak moments of life, no, that much would be comprehensible. Though what does baffle us is that it prefers to take advantage of any moment whatsoever. For no particular reason, you can feel it almost slyly stirring up some action. What is does is, it depicts various destinies for its subordinates, clings to a moment, and simply shoots regardless of the circumstances. Unaware, it's subjects comport themselves one way or another, and the course of their lives simply put - changes. When it decides to roll the dice, no matter how smooth and courteous it is, the instants it chooses to shoot almost always seem ruthless to me..

Again, quite timelessly, while the children were in that hospital alleyway that day, I felt Fate intensify. I was surprised, in my opinion, no human child in such a condition could be in any position to determine a path of life. But Fate started watching vigorously, it was seizing the moment. There was no way to distract it, Fate was very well known for its perseverance. It's also known that any kind of impulse, being random instincts or not, is likely to be considered a choice by Fate. This must be what happened to Bengi that day. She obviously did not make a decision but acted on impulse, but for Fate, she'd decided on a pathway. The poor child.

I'll tell you what happened, as is, and you try to figure out where Fate conveyed its favorite tool - destiny - on these children.

The soldier pat Bengi's hair and Civan told her he was right behind them. The poor boy was hardly able to walk, he blinked his eyes frequently and took deep breaths to be able to concentrate on where he was going. He was dehydrated, worn out and the heat was pushing him to the borders of his consciousness. His pals were in no different position. The children took little steps across the courtyard, it seemed as if they'd never make it to the building. One of the soldiers ran to the emergency entrance of the hospital to call for help and he was followed back by Nurse Safiye to tend to the children. The moment the nurse saw Bengi, she reached out to hold her. Bengi with her last might, grasped on to the soldier and somewhat whined so the nurse headed towards one of the boys. The nurse right behind Safiye tended to the other boy which left only Civan walking beside the soldier and Bengi. In the meantime, the heartbroken photographer who had found them at their village house who also happened to follow the military truck to the hospital parked his vehicle in the mid-courtyard. He jumped out of his vehicle and sprinted towards the siblings.  When he reached Civan, he touched him by his back to have a look. Civan looked up but could hardly pick the photographers' face which had been shadowed by the beaming sun right on top of them. The poor boy suddenly got dizzy and blacked out, losing his balance. Just as he was about to collapse, the photographer kneeled to hold him and caught him before he fell.  Even though another nurse reached them to help, the photographer insisted on carrying Civan inside himself. The children were therefore taken into a cool room with single beds by two caregivers, a soldier, and a photographer. The doctors and nurses rushed into the room right behind them. 

What so astonishing is that by the time Bengi had been laid on the white cool sheets, she'd already reached one of the earliest cornerstones of her life and would now be guided through the path she chose until she reached another one. This was Fate's doing. The dear child wasn't even aware of the intersection she had arrived at and had a go in a direction completely unaware of it. She would now live in complete ignorance of her minor choice in the courtyard. 

At moments like this, I wished life gave the poor creatures a second chance to reconsider.