A Sound I Will Never Forget

One day, I went to school. It was a regular day when we started history class. Then, my teacher started to scream at us, “Boys, go down under the tables.” The war had begun. We were so scared.

A lot of students were crying because of the sound of the bombs and artillery. That sound, I will never forget; it was strong and close to us. My little brother, Awad, was in his classroom downstairs. I was so afraid that my brother had gotten shot that I screamed at the teacher, “Let me get my brother; they’re going to kill him.” At that moment, I felt that I was losing my brother. The teacher would not let us go downstairs.

After one hour, all the students and I went to the basement, and when I saw my brother, I hugged him so tightly that he was shocked: “Why are you doing that?” he asked. I told him, “I thought you had died.” He laughed and said, “I’m a superman.” On that day, the teacher called our parents to take us from school. I didn’t want my mom or my father to come to school to take my little brother and me because it was so dangerous for them. When my father came safely, I was happy to see him. I had thought that I would never see my family again. My teacher told my father that the school would be closed until the war stopped. I was so sad to hear this news; I loved my school, my friends, and my teachers.

On that day, my life changed—and not just my life, the lives of all the people in my city. During this week, most of our neighbors moved into our house because it was big, with a big cellar, so we could all sleep safely. One day, I slept next to my little cousin, who was five years old. On this night, the aerial bombardment started, and my cousin started crying because of the sounds. I was scared, but I was acting strong in front of my cousin because I wanted him to feel comfortable with me. In that minute, I told him, “Ali, it’s just fireworks; don’t be scared.” I didn’t want to lie to him, but he would not understand if I told him the truth.

This experience changed my life and my personality. I lived in a dangerous situation when I was just 13 years old. I saw bodies in the street and smelled dead animals. Now I’m strong. I’m no longer afraid because the worst is over.

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Author portraitAhed Omran writes, “I was born in Ibb, Yemen, in 1997. I finished high school in Yemen, but I couldn’t go to college because of the civil war. I traveled to Algeria in the middle of 2015 to finish the immigration papers, and I came to the United States at the end of that year. I’m grateful and proud to be a student of Nestor Rodriguez at the Adult Education Program of the City College of New York. My most challenging experience is to learn English and to achieve my dreams.”