Always the Same

By Noor Al-Shanti

It had been a year since the dust began to fall from the sky and created chaos. Lori and her brother Dylan, separated from the rest of their family, struggle to survive and to find a school that will take Lori. But the dust has revealed people's underlying prejudice and it seems there's no place for a girl in a wheelchair.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Noor Al-Shanti
• Release date: Jan 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9780995264649

Book preview

Always the Same

BY

Noor Al-Shanti

Copyright © Noor Al-Shanti 2017

ISBN 978-0-9952646-4-9

Cover by: Bayan Al-Shanti

All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted without prior permission of the author.

She got sick of staring at her shoes. The dust swirled around them. It crept through the open doorway, which was just within reach now. It had been a year since the dust began to fall from the sky and created chaos. The line hadn’t moved for a while. Stacy turned to look behind her, and the sight she saw both heartened and depressed her. The line stretched all the way down the street and then turned behind another building. So many people lost and looking for their families. She forced herself to concentrate on the cheerful aspect of this, she was not back there any longer; she was now mere steps from the doorway.

A particularly strong gust of wind picked up the dust and threw it in their faces. Heads bent and turned away, hands brought cloths and handkerchiefs to cover mouths and noses. Stacy did not turn or cover her face. She faced the menace, trying to decipher its mystery. Trying to find out why it affected her son so badly, and yet did nothing to her.

Finally, the line moved again. She paid her fee, and stepped into the large building. The dust was swirling around the wiring and the cameras and the desks and into people’s lungs.

She could see the beginning of the line now. There was masking tape on the floor, a large x. She counted the people before her. Nine. Almost there. Suddenly, she felt nervous. She had done this 50 times now, once a week, but what if this was the one time it reached them? She rehearsed it silently.

The first time she had assumed that they would just replay the footage they had periodically, but it turned out that they only played it for a week. They said they could not keep repeating the same messages when there were so many people looking for family members. It just meant that the same people kept turning up again and again. The station didn’t care; they got the fee every time someone came in.

Finally, a young woman led her to a small room. She stood before the camera. The cameraman did not even have to tell her to adjust her position. She had done this too many times. One, she heard, Two, three, you’re on!

Stacy swallowed and began.