Afghan Dreamer

The putrid stench overwhelms me. It smells like a hundred dead bodies, sweat, blood and tears. As Mama drapes the suffocating blanket over me I take in one last gulp of comparatively sweet air and submerse myself. It is my first trip into the market, on my list things to do are; beg for money, buy scraps with the money and stay alive long enough to return home with my bounty. No, I am not to venture into no mans land with missiles whirring above and bullets screeching past, its just a solitary trip to the market. Why does mama send me with a tear in her eye? I know all the rules; stay covered, stay sharp and be quick.
As I leave the tenants the warm breeze welcomes me, I enjoy it for only a second, because I realize it has revealed two of my toes, I rearrange the musty fabric and move on. I find a shady spot beneath a shop awning and perch myself hands stretched. While I sit for the long hot hours, the occasional coin tickling my palm, I take time to observe my surroundings. The prickle on the back of my neck has not ceased since entering the outside world and the scenes I viewed were of very little comfort. Beady eyes combed the square daring passers by to even glance the wrong way, shiftily searching for any excuse. Their faces were contorted like demons and their teeth glinted in the burning sun. I knew that my condition must have been contributing some of these features, because devils weren’t real. My stomach took another contorted twist crying out for a scrap of bread. The eyes kept scanning like eagles looking for the next innocent sparrow and it seems one had been spotted.
They advanced toward me like sharks on a fresh kill coming from all angles, the comforting breeze had betrayed me once more. One of the men hoisted me from my crouch and shoved me into the circle of turban clad jackals behind him, they jeered and snarled and threw their fists around not knowing or caring which part of me they destroyed and then suddenly just after a severe blow to the face they stopped. Just like that.
I stood, naked in the middle of the street. My pile of fabric lay on the floor. No one advanced on me and no one took notice of my nudeness. I noticed that all around the market place women stood too, naked and oblivious. My attackers seemed to look right through me as they stalked away from my tattered clothes. They did not look perplexed or perturbed, as I was sure they would be, they just walked on. The women around me started to squeal with fear and excitement. They realized that the men could not see them either. After letting this miracle sink in, they ran around, taunting the men, gathering in giggly groups, and laughing loudly in their faces just to prove a point. The men looked as they had before, scanning the marketplace, completely oblivious to the free and naked congregation before their very eyes.
I was dumbfounded. I walked cautiously toward the nearest man and waved my hand in front of his eyes. He didn’t even blink. I could feel his hot breath on the back of my palm, but he could not even feel my presence. I plucked up the courage and poked him gently on the forehead. I could feel his clammy skin, and clearly he felt something because he immediately scratched his forehead with his dirty fingernails.
Mama.
I ran as fast as my legs would carry me through the alleyways and burst into the tenant block. I heard squeals of joy and singing coming from the rooms, I ran into the open arms of my also naked mother.
After a while of getting used to the surreal change that had come over us we became accustomed to the idea of freedom and prosperity. We decided to steal seeds and grow crops. Our first attempts were fruitless because the men though evil demons had sprouted deeds in their fields and burned them down. We then took to the mountains and found a place for all of us to live and prosper in peace. On our way we found warriors in the mountains who were fighting the bed men in the city. They were able to see us and said that the bad men had been blinded by evil. Our invisibility to them was something of a punishment. They began to fight amongst themselves because they had no one to take their anger out on and our women and the warriors lived ha…
I awoke a pool of hot blood in my mouth, the pain was so severe that I would have taken death over the prospect of moving. Someone was trying to pull me up but the pain was so intense that I screamed for her to stop.