No one knew where Mona went after she left the camp, for no one had paid attention to her—everyone was busy with what had happened in the early morning when the occupation soldiers had attacked the houses. They had stormed the doors and broken them down, and they had seized the men and driven them to the square. As for the boys, they didn’t leave a single one; they dragged all of them to the military vehicles. The women screamed, and the small children cried as if fire were burning them.
The voices rose from every side when a soldier fired at a boy who had thrown a Molotov bottle at the south. An explosion occurred, smoke multiplied, and the boy fell dead. Rana, the small, thin girl, was on the upper floor of their demolished house and saw everything. Since the dead boy was her cousin’s son and she loved him very much, she said to herself, “Why don’t I hide behind that wall near the military vehicles and throw stones at the occupation soldiers?”
She did not consult her aunt, who lived with her after her mother died, nor did she consult anyone else. She knew well that they would not mind as long as they confronted the enemy. Quickly, Rana entered her room, which was empty except for a floor mattress and a box in which she kept her clothes. She looked for her long winter coat but didn’t find it, so she scattered all the contents of the box, then remembered that they had put it under the bed. She pulled it out forcefully and put it on, even though the weather was summer and the heat was severe. She sneaked behind the houses and started gathering as many stones as she could, putting them in her coat pockets.
When she found that she couldn’t fit more than a limited number, she tore the lining of the coat and stuffed it with small stones. Then she became heavy, with only an old, worn plastic shoe on her feet. One of the soldiers spotted a small girl walking slowly as if she were walking on eggs. She trembled as he approached her, and her face turned pale. He said to her, “Where are you going, you monkey? Can’t you see it’s forbidden to pass?” He looked at her with terrified eyes, gathered her courage, and said, “I am sick and going to my aunt near the market because there is no one left in the house.”
The soldier examined her and then said, “And why this coat in the middle of summer?” She said, “I am cold and have a fever.” He didn’t complete his questions before she started moving away with steady steps, preparing to flee if he tried to arrest her. But he turned his face away from her, not entirely at ease. These inhabitants possess courage and intelligence that these occupiers, who claim to bring civilization, did not imagine.
He turned away from her and said, “Either you are sick or you have a loose mind.” She was not like that at all, but her only goal was against her enemy. Rana reached the market and quickly took off her coat, emptied the stones, and started throwing them stone by stone. Each time she threw one, she would hide her head for a moment, then raise it with caution until she didn’t find anyone to throw at, and so on. She jumped for joy when a soldier was hit, but she didn’t feel anything except an iron hand gripping her neck, then slapped her with such force that blood bled from her. This was the same soldier who had let her pass, believing she was sick.
He said angrily, “So you are the one who is sick and cold, going to your aunt. Come, I will take you to hell—you and your aunt. Where is your aunt’s house?” Rana curled up like a cat when the soldier ordered her to walk in front of him. What to do? There was nothing left but submission. But Rana held the coat and appeared to be gathering it to take it with her. The soldier leaned down to push her away from him, so she threw it over his head, then picked up the only remaining stone on the ground. While he was screaming and trying to slip out of the coat, Rana had already disappeared into the house between the market. When the soldier was asking his colleagues, “Did you see a small girl wearing a winter coat?” they were mocking him and saying, “Is there anyone who wears a winter coat in the summer?…”