Curfew Pt.1

It was a stormy night and she was staring at the deserted road from her window. There was a curfew, a word that still haunted her. The curfew was because of the riots between Sinhala and Muslim people. Her name was May.

“Why do people fight like this?’’, she thought, petting her dog. She turned to her dog. “You don’t know why, do you Domino?’’. Domino licked her hand.

May was a Sri Lankan Christian. She went to a school where there were Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and Christian students. She loved the diversity of her school. She proudly told everybody who asked about her school how they celebrated each other’s festivals together.

“Why can’t they live as we do at school? We NEVER argue about our religions or ethnicities”, she said to herself “I hate the world when it’s like this. The way these people act… doesn’t make sense at all. It’s so… stupid”

She heard a knock on her door. Her mother came in. “Honey, you don’t have school tomorrow”

May sighed. “Not that stupid curfew Again…..”

“It is curfew and something bad has happened again. Someone has been killed. I’m sorry you’ll miss school, dear. But it can’t be helped.” She looked at May apologetically and went out of the room.

May immediately picked up her phone and texted her best friend Taniya. “Someone was killed! Did you know?”

Taniya replied that very minute. “Yes. It happened near our house.”

May was startled and called her friend straightaway.

“Did you see it?” she asked without even greeting Taniya.

“No, but my brother saw it. He’s still in shock. He barely managed to tell us and then he passed out.”

Oh... Let’s not talk about these horrible happening anymore. Is Adam okay?”

“Yes. Do you know that we won’t have school tomorrow?”

“Yeah”, she replied. Then after a long silence, she said “All this makes no sense, right? Fighting over religions”

“I was thinking about that too... Hey, I’m sorry but my mother is calling me. I’ll talk to you later.”

“All right. Good night. Stay safe.” May kept her phone aside and flopped on her bed, picking up a book. But her thoughts were not on the words printed on the book. She was lost in her thoughts, which were far away. After a while mother came into her room to find her asleep with the book still in her hand.

* * *

May was woken up by a loud noise. Some people were walking down the street discussing something in very loud, angry voices. It was 6.15. She dressed up and went downstairs. Her mother and father were talking at the dining table.

“…it’s getting worse. People are fighting all over the country. If it goes on like this well end up in a war”, her father was saying.

Her mother scowled at him and turned to May. “Good morning honey. Shall I drop you at Taniya’s house today?”

May was surprised. “Why?”

“Well, you don’t have school but both of us have to go to work. We can’t let you stay at home, all by yourself, on a day like this”

“Oh, okay. Can I take Domino?”

Her mother looked uncertain. After a while she said “sure”, afraid of making May’s mood worse.

After an hour, she was dropped at Taniya’s house. May and her best friend talked and played cards for a while. Then Taniya spoke up

“What about doing some schoolwork too? We are going to miss school a lot of things go on like this”, she asked.

May agreed. “I brought some books”

But they couldn’t study without their minds wandering off. After a while, the sound of a helicopter came. It was louder than usual. Domino began to yowl at the ceiling. May and Taniya ran to the window.

“My goodness! It’s going very low. I guess it’s going to land somewhere nearby”, said Taniya

“Hmm”, replied May, sounding thoughtful. I hope there isn’t anything going on”

“Well, I think there is. Listen”, said Taniya. May listened. She heard the angry voices of some people from nearby. It sounded like they were shouting and it gradually became louder. Then she noticed that there was a cloud of black smoke coming from the direction of the voices.

Just as she noticed it, Taniya’s 5-year-old sister Anika came into the room, sobbing. “What’s happening? What’s happening? Tanii I’m scared.”

Taniya hugged her sister. “Don’t worry dear. We are safe at home.”

May wasn’t sure of that. Their walls were able to keep them safe for now, but not forever. What’s next? What’s going to happen if people keep on acting insensible like this? She wondered. The day these happenings started came into her mind. She was at school, practicing a dance with her classmates. A teacher had come and told them that they had to leave school as soon as possible. Rumors were spreading all over the school, that Sinhala and Muslim people were fighting. They had been terrified when they heard the news. Even so, they had comforted each other, Sinhala and Muslim alike. She wondered why those people who were fighting out there can’t live like they did. Together, regardless of their ethnicity and religion. She knew that these people who were fighting probably also had children. Do they want to make their own children scared? She wondered.

She knew that though they were safe inside their four walls, there were people outside who had to face these terrors. Who had to see their houses being burnt in front of their eyes? A poem she learned at school came into her mind. “Shopfronts in the Pettah, landmarks of our childhood. Curl like old photographs in the flames.” Was it going to happen again? She had lost a brother she never knew in the LTTE war. She didn’t want it to happen again. The thought of her brother filled her eyes with tears.

While she was lost in thought, Taniya’s mother had come into the room. “Girls, there’s a curfew again. May, your mother told you to stay here until she comes. She said she might be late because of the curfew.” May nodded in reply

“Mother,” Taniya called. “What happened?”

Taniya’s mother sighed. “Some shops were on fire. A mob is moving towards the town to fight. Your father just came home. He had seen it all. Don’t cry dear”, she added to Anika who was clinging onto Taniya. “Come here”. She took Anika out of the room with her.

May sat on the floor and Taniya flopped on the bed, both of them lost in thought. They sat in the same place and barely did any talking until May’s mother came to pick her. She didn’t even stop by to have a chat. She nodded at Taniya’s mother and took May home. On their way, they informed her about what was happening. Several gangs of ruffians people moving towards the town, with cudgels in their hands. How much our lives had changed in just a few days, because of all these. She couldn’t stop thinking