And gradually every day it comes back to me, like an outgoing tide reveals the contours of the underlying sand: the checkpoint, raised voices in two languages (neither of which are mine), a volley of automatic gunfire and an explosion. The air is full of flying fragments: metal, rubber, glass, fabric, human bone, human flesh. The border we are crossing appears on no map, the guards belong to no recognised army. Our light blue livery is no guarantee of safe passage; papers stating our humanitarian mission are worthless. In this land where the warlords hold sway, even the law of the jungle is broken every day.
And as the memories return, my twisted body gives up the struggle until my only question is 'why?' and my family's only question is 'when?'
2 comments:
Vivid and poignant! I like the use of simple present, inter-spliced with the present continuous. Did you use these tenses for the final OU piece?
Amanda G
No, I was too scared to experiment too much in my eTMA and it wouldn't have really fitted with the genre - fairytale parody.
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