The Oranges
A story from reality

In a large city in Iraq called Baghdad, lived a young boy named Ahmad. He lived a normal life until the American soldiers came to Iraq.

After this moment everything changed. People began to leave the city looking for a safe place. The war began and till now it hasn't ended.

Ahmad was afraid to go to school or even to walk alone in the street. He was once a happy child. That's what everyone told him but not anymore, because nothing can make you happy when you are not safe.

When the sun began to rise he would look from the window and watch the birds flying and singing and he wondered, "When are we going to be free like these birds? Oh I wish I were a bird to fly up high in the sky far away from here, but even if I fly the soldiers will follow me in their planes. It isn't fair to watch people who are getting killed day by day.
Do you call this Freedom!

" Ahmad looked at his sick sister and said to himself " I have to buy her some tea and something to eat" Ahmad put the tea pot on the stove and walked out of the house.

On his way, he saw a large tree filled with big oranges. He thought "My sister will be very happy when she sees the oranges, she will jump from her bed! It will be a wonderful surprise"

Ahmad climbed the tree and began to pick some oranges. Not far away, an American soldier was shaking his gun nervously and was feeling very homesick. Suddenly he saw something moving in the orange tree near by. He remembered the stories about snipers and wondered if it there was one hiding in the tree. The soldier held his gun with trembling hands, but somehow he realized the figure seemed too small for a sniper!
"Could it be a little boy in the tree!", he wondered. At last he decided it was safer to just fire a warning shot above the figure's head. In a matter of seconds, the bullet hit the tree trunk and ricocheted into Ahmad's heart.

Ahmad fell on the ground and the oranges fell over him and the juice burst out of them and mixed with his blood. A big bullet cut an orange into two pieces. The soldier ran towards Ahmad and couldn't believe his eyes. He held Ahmad in his arms and cried and cried, but what can tears do?? They might wash the blood off of the oranges, but they cannot bring Ahmad back to life again!

Back home, the tea pot kept boiling until the water had disappeared and Ahmad's mother was so worried she looked out of the window and shouted," Ahmad Ahmad but no one answered.