The Story of Maghrigb

Chapter 1

**My childhood days**

I don't remember much about my childhood.Now ,When I am a 40 year old woman who has spent most of her life in hot and rough desert ,isolated from rest of world,a life full of adventures with limited freedom and no rights ,I don't want to die without my story untold.
It is very hard to recall each and every incident or every childhood memories that were snatched from me when i was only 15 years old I'm still trying to write as much as I can.

I was born in Abu Kamal city of eastern syria which shares its border with Iraq,my family was neither  poor nor rich,my father was a businessman, he had a shop of clothes and utensils  near our home there.

I remember, my father had three wives ,my mother was his second wife,an obedient woman who always taught her children to be honest and religious and mother of my father's four children,2 sons and two daughters and I had 3 more half brothers .I lost my all contacts with them when I was abducted one unfortunate day suddenly from my home at 15 .

Climate of Abu kamal was too hot,It was a desert area but was converted into a city,me and my sister used to wear black clothes that could cover our whole body and protect us from hot climate except our face and hands,I don't  remember exactly when we both started wearing those clothes .
I was born in evening when we Muslims do our maghrigb prayer that's why my grandmother gave me this name.I was the first daughter of my father after 4 sons so he always adored me and so rest of my family. There was one more reason behind exceptional love I used to be showered with ,I was born a disabled child, I was mute from birth so nobody ever even raised their voice on me.My mother used to tell me that I am the most obeying child of hers and she loves me.

My brothers sometimes used to tease  me but they never made fun of me for my disability .Even my step mothers whom me and my full siblings used to call auntie s adored me.

That was pity for my disability or real adoration I was too young to understand.

My mother taught me to read Quran and  pray five times from a young age .Our family never supported education of girls so I never got chance to go to school I remember I used to peep out from window to look at the streets from where my brothers who were on their way to school used to wave their hands to say good byee.
Our home was a two-story building. My mother and my father's eldest wife used to live at ground floor with their children and his mother and 3rd wife used to live at 1st floor with her children.

I was not only mute but a shy child too unlike my younger sister who was not only talkative but bold also,somehow she convinced our father to let us learn how to read and write arabic language by our elder brothers. We both started learning arabic language, I always felt unlucky whenever I saw my younger sister reading arabic books loudly, It always made me cry but after several attempts somehow I learned to write arabic language that later helped me to communicate when there were no family members in rest of my life .

My mother's only concern was my marriage,at that time it was very hard to find suitable husband for girls as there was too much poverty throughout our country and here she had a disable daughter.

When My first womanly blood came ,I was 13 years old 2 years after my younger sister's blood came,until that It was also the biggest concern of mother because in her thinking or most woman's thinking women are incomplete without it.

I remember my grand mother always used to tell my mother that this daughter of yours is exact replica of you in her looks,i have green eyes and black hairs  just like my mother while my younger sister's eyes were brown in colour exact like my father and paternal grandparents.In four children of my mother I was the only only who had green eyes like her.

My father was a businessman who had business of clothes as well as utensils,our shops were near our home that was in the main market of Abu kamal  ,When I turned 14 my oldest brother  (son of my father's 1st wife)married. His wife was the most beautiful girl I had seen at that time ,she was also 14 just like me,after him my families's next plan was to arrange my marriage ,My father fixed my marriage with a young man of 26 next year after I would turn 15,he was a son of business man who used to live in Damascus  (capital of syria),I was going to be his 2nd wife.

After that my mother started buying small gifts for me such as jewelleries .

My family's biggest burden was lifted now and happiness was visible on everyone's face,I was neither  excited nor sad ,I was ready for accepting my fate with open hands and now when I think about that time I feel how short that happiness was,my mother never got chance to give those gifts to her 1st born daughter, I never got chance to lead a life of normal married woman,my father never got chance to perform wedding rituals of a father.

But then I think that happiness was never meant for me....
Life is unpredictable, I remember that unfortunate day,I was at my home,my father was in Damascus at that time for some business purpose and also for discussing something about my marriage that was scheduled next month.

It was the same time when,we were getting continuous newses of the death of the head of a terrorist organisation  known as Fauz e  Aadam who used to live somewhere in Iraq responsible for several bomb blasts in US  whose name was Aadam al samarrai  ,

His son who was more dangerous than him and known to be the mastermind of most of his blasts was made the new head of that group,his name was Zargham bin Aadam al Samarrai,several attacks happened after him becoming head at Syrian iraqi border.

At that time only radio was available and whatever international news we were getting were from BBC(British Broadcast Channel),we women were never interested in listening news so whatever we know were when our father used to discuss with brothers or other male members .

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