Hello Readers! This is a collection of 3 short stories I wrote about the lockdowns/curfews that were implemented within my country in 2018, 2019, and 2020/2021. This is the first story of the collection. You can use the following links to read the rest.
* * *
It was a stormy night, and a girl was staring at the deserted road from her window. There was a curfew. The word that still haunted her. It was because of the riots between Sinhala and Muslim people. This girl was Maya.
“Why do people fight like this?’’ she thought, petting her dog. She turned to her dog. “You don’t know why, do you, Domino?’’. Domino licked her hand.
Maya was a Sri Lankan Christian. She went to a school where there were Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, and Christian students, and she loved this diversity. She proudly told everybody who asked about her school how they celebrated each other's festivals together.
“Why can’t they live as we do at school? We NEVER argue about our religions or ethnicities”, she said to herself, “I hate the world when it’s like this. The way these people act… doesn’t make sense at all. It’s so… stupid”
She heard a knock on her door. Her mother came in. “Honey, you don’t have school tomorrow.”
Maya sighed. “Not that stupid curfew again.”
“Yes, It's the curfew. And something bad has happened again. Someone has been killed. I’m sorry you will miss school, dear. But it can’t be helped.” She looked at Maya apologetically and went out of the room.
Maya immediately picked up her phone and texted her best friend, Taniya.
“Someone was killed! Did you know?”
Taniya replied that very minute. “Yes. It happened near our house.”
Maya was so shocked and called her friend straightaway.
“Did you see it?” she asked without even greeting Taniya.
“No, but my brother saw it. He’s still in shock. He barely managed to tell us, and then he passed out.”
"Oh... Let’s not talk about these horrible happening anymore. Is Adam okay?”
“Yes. Do you know that we won’t have school tomorrow?”
“Yeah”, Maya replied. Then after a long silence, she said, “All this makes no sense, right? Fighting over religions.”
“I was thinking about that too... Hey, I’m sorry, but my mother is calling me. I’ll talk to you later.”
“All right. Good night. Stay safe.” Maya kept her phone aside and flopped on her bed, picking up a book. But her thoughts were not on the words printed on the book. She was lost in her thoughts, which were far away. After a while mother came into her room to find her asleep with the book still in her hand.
* * *
Maya was woken up by a loud noise. Some people were walking down the street discussing something in loud, angry voices. It was 6.15., so she got dressed and went downstairs. Her mother and father were talking at the dining table.
“…It’s getting worse. People are fighting all over the country. If it goes on like this we'll end up in a war”, her father was saying.
Her mother scowled at him and turned to May. “Good morning, honey. Shall I drop you at Taniya’s house today?”
Maya was surprised. “Why?”
“Well, you don’t have school, but both of us have to go to work. We can’t let you stay at home, all by yourself, on a day like this”
“Oh, okay. Can I take Domino?”
Her mother looked uncertain. After a while, she said “sure”, afraid of making May’s mood worse.
After an hour, she was dropped at Taniya’s house. Maya and her best friend talked and played cards for a while. Then Taniya spoke up.
“What about doing some schoolwork too? We are going to miss school a lot if things go on like this”, she asked.
Maya agreed. “I brought some books.”
But they couldn’t study without their minds wandering off. After a while, the sound of a helicopter came. It was louder than usual. Domino began to yowl at the ceiling. Maya and Taniya ran to the window.
“My goodness! It’s going very low. I guess it’s going to land somewhere nearby”, said Taniya
“Hmm”, replied Maya, sounding thoughtful. I hope there isn’t anything going on”
“Well, I think there is. Listen”, said Taniya. Maya listened. She heard the angry voices of some people from nearby. It sounded like they were shouting, and it gradually became louder. Then she noticed that there was a cloud of black smoke coming from the direction of the voices.
Just as she noticed it, Taniya’s 5-year-old sister Anika came into the room, sobbing. “What’s happening? What’s happening? Tani, I’m scared.”
Taniya hugged her sister. “Don’t worry dear. We are safe at home.”
Maya wasn’t very sure of that. Their walls were able to keep them safe for now, but not forever. What’s next? What’s going to happen if people keep on acting foolish like this? She wondered. The day these happenings started came into her mind. She was at school, practicing a dance with her classmates. A teacher had come and told them that they had to leave school as soon as possible. Rumors were spreading all over the school, that Sinhala and Muslim people were fighting. They had been terrified when they heard the news. Even so, they had comforted each other, Sinhala and Muslim alike. She wondered why those people who were fighting out there can’t live as they did. Together, regardless of their ethnicity and religion. She knew that these people who were fighting probably also had children. Do they want to make their own children scared? She wondered.
She knew that though they were safe inside their four walls, there were people outside who had to face these terrors. Who had to see their houses being burnt in front of their eyes? A poem she learned at school came into her mind. “Shopfronts in the Pettah, landmarks of our childhood. Curl like old photographs in the flames.” Was it going to happen again? She had lost a brother she never knew in the LTTE war. She didn’t want it to happen again. The thought of her brother filled her eyes with tears.
While she was lost in thought, Taniya’s mother had come into the room. “Girls, there’s a curfew again. Maya, your mother asked you to stay here until she comes. She said she might be late because of the curfew.” Maya nodded in reply
“Mother,” Taniya called. “What happened?”
Taniya’s mother sighed. “Some shops were on fire. A mob is moving towards the town to fight. Your father just came home. He had seen it all. Don’t cry dear”, she added to Anika, who was clinging onto Taniya. “Come here”. She took Anika out of the room with her.
Maya sat on the floor, and Taniya flopped on the bed, both of them lost in thought. They sat in the same place and barely did any talking until Maya’s mother came to pick her. She didn’t even stop by to have a chat. She nodded at Taniya's mother and took Maya home. On their way, they informed her about what was happening. Several gangs of ruffians people move towards the town, with cudgels in their hands. How much our lives had changed in just a few days because of all these. She couldn’t stop thinking
* * *
2 months later
Now, everything was almost back to normal. Most people seemed to have forgotten about what happened. The destroyed shops were rebuilt. The news went back to being about the weather and sports. Even Maya had almost forgotten the incident until she came across one of her diary entries written when it happened. She wondered, "What if this is just the beginning? What if there's more to come? What if something like this happens again. Are people really going to forget it then?"
Written in 2018
Edited in 2021
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