Mud City

Mud City — page 3 — went outside and plunked herself down beside the doorway her back slumped against the wall Jasper her dog was taking up most of the sliver of shade by the hut He lifted his head a few inches off the ground in greeting but only for a moment It was too hot to do anything more The streets and walls of the camp were all made of mud which soaked up the heat like a bread oven baking everything inside including Shauzia Flies landed on her face hands and ankles Nearby the resident crazy woman rocked and moaned Remember when we were in the high pasture Shauzia asked Jasper Remember how cool and clean the air felt How we could hear birds singing not women moaning She reached under her chador to lift up her hair which was sticking to the back of her neck Maybe we should have stayed with the shepherds she said brushing off a fly and redraping her head and shoulders with the chador Maybe I should have kept my hair short like a boy’s instead of letting it grow back That was Mrs Weera’s idea Mrs Weera orders me around has dumb ideas and won’t even get me a decent pair of sandals Look at these She took off a sandal and showed it to Jasper who kept his eyes closed The sandal was barely held

Mud City — page 4 — Shauzia put it back on her foot It’s not fair for you to be in this heat either she told Jasper You’re a shepherding dog You should be back in the mountains with the sheep or even better on the deck of a big ship next to me with the ocean wind all around us Shauzia wasn’t completely sure whether there was wind on the ocean but she figured there must be After all there were waves I’m sorry I brought you here Jasper I thought this place would be a stepping stone to some place better instead of a dead end Do you forgive me Jasper opened his eyes perked up his ears for a moment then went back to his nap Shauzia took that as a yes Jasper used to belong to the shepherds but as soon as he together by bits of string and Shauzia met they realized they really belonged together Shauzia leaned back and closed her eyes Maybe she could remember what a cool breeze felt like Maybe that would cool her down Shauzia tell us a story She kept her eyes closed Go away She wasn’t in the mood to entertain the

Mud City — page 5 — compound’s children Tell us about the wolves She opened one eye and used it to glare at the group of youngsters in front of her I said go away She never should have been nice to them Now they wouldn’t leave her alone What are you doing I’m sitting We’ll sit with you The children dropped to the dirt closer to her than was comfortable in this heat A lot of them had shaved heads because of a recent outbreak of lice in the compound Most had runny noses They all had big eyes and hollow cheeks There was never enough food Quit butting into me she said pushing away a little girl who was leaning on her The orphans Mrs Weera was always finding and bringing into the compound were especially clingy You’re worse than sheep Tell us about the wolves One story then you’ll leave me alone One story It would be worth the effort if they really did go She needed some quiet time to plan out what she was going to say to Mrs Weera This time she wouldn’t be put off by a request to do one of those little jobs

Mud City — page 6 — All right I’ll tell you about the wolves Shauzia took a deep breath and began her story It happened while I was working as a shepherd We had the sheep up in the high pastureland in Afghanistan where the air is clean and cool I can make Afghanistan with my fist So can I A dozen grubby fists were thrust into Shauzia’s face The thumbs were stuck out to represent the skinny part of the province of Badakhshan Don’t interrupt Do you want to hear the story or not Shauzia said waving the hands away We were up in the pastureland where everything is green grass bushes pistachio trees great oak trees a beautiful green Shauzia looked around for something to compare it to The compound was all yellowish-gray mud Most of the children had spent their whole lives there Look at Safa’s shalwar kameez Up in the high pastureland the whole world is green like that There was green under the dirt of Safa’s clothes The water supply was low and no one had been able to do laundry The children oohed and aahed and started babbling about colors Shauzia had to shut them up so she could

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