Since they are not very comfortable with talking to the women, your mother plans to step in

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After an hour of threatening, yelling, crying, and trauma, he finally takes the money and lets you go. 

 

You finally reach the border. The Talibs there ask men and women to line up separately. No one is allowed to talk to each other. You look at your brother and try to confirm with him about a document through signs, and out of nowhere comes a Talib and hits your brother with a hunter-like thing. 

 

After another hour of trauma, you and your family finally step into Pakistan. The relief doesn’t last long, as the Pakistani soldiers at the border start to question you about your arrival from a “terrorist country.” They try to harass you about everything from documents to luggage, to the COVID-19 vaccine. You look at your family with tears in your eyes, with no hope and just exhaustion. 

 

Suddenly, a man intervenes and the security people seem to listen to him. When you focus on their conversation, you realize that he is from the Romanian Embassy. He reminds them of their “deal” made with Romania about letting people with the documents in. 

 

The man then comes to your family and says, “You are now safe.” As soon as you hear this, you break down crying. All this time, your heart has been craving for someone to say this to you, and you finally hear it from someone you met minutes ago. 

 

You are taken to the guest house and asked to avoid going outside. In case of any need, you are asked to make a call to them and it will be taken care of.

 

It has now been three days in Pakistan, and you are informed that you will be moved to Romania tonight. The way the Romanian Embassy people have treated you in a country that is not even their own is only getting you excited about what the future holds for you in Romania.

 

The night has come and you are at the airport with your family. As you board the plane, take your seat and look outside the window, you think of the home that you had to leave behind in Afghanistan. The home that you might never be able to go back to. As you look at your reflection in the window, you are reminded of the things that you have gone through this past month, and how the experience has completely changed you as a person.

 

There is sorrow, there is heartbreak, but there is hope too. The hope of a better future. The hope of never waking up to the sounds of gunshots and missiles. 

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