We sat outside the office. After thirty years conversation finally escaped us and there was nothing left.
My niece bounced on his knee. She was sixteen months, full of life and curiosity.
I coo over her. One final attempt to break through and I manage a weak smile from her father.
She’ll be different when you see her next.
I know.
I feel the plane ticket in my pocket, nestled against the scars that are scraped against my heart.
She’ll know who you are, one way or another.
My stomach churns. The thought of the woman who will shape a narrative that’s not hers to tell. That this small child may be filled with a darkness that is not hers to carry.
You’ll do the right thing.
I see the wince my brother tries to hide. I wonder about the secrets he keeps, the stories he’s stoped telling me and his life behind closed doors. But I cannot know and will never know. A new life, a new country beckons. One filled with promise, with hope, with escape from the war that I’m bringing to an end.
I smile at my niece and stand. She will know me one day, and I will flood her world with the truth, with freedom, and I’ll help her escape the war that she will one day carry herself.
My niece bounced on his knee. She was sixteen months, full of life and curiosity.
I coo over her. One final attempt to break through and I manage a weak smile from her father.
She’ll be different when you see her next.
I know.
I feel the plane ticket in my pocket, nestled against the scars that are scraped against my heart.
She’ll know who you are, one way or another.
My stomach churns. The thought of the woman who will shape a narrative that’s not hers to tell. That this small child may be filled with a darkness that is not hers to carry.
You’ll do the right thing.
I see the wince my brother tries to hide. I wonder about the secrets he keeps, the stories he’s stoped telling me and his life behind closed doors. But I cannot know and will never know. A new life, a new country beckons. One filled with promise, with hope, with escape from the war that I’m bringing to an end.
I smile at my niece and stand. She will know me one day, and I will flood her world with the truth, with freedom, and I’ll help her escape the war that she will one day carry herself.
