War Passed by Here

Source: Unknown

The cost of freedom is always high but we don't realize it until it is too late. For ages, humans sacrificed blood and tears all over the world to be free; in fact, we are still paying back our debt. However, we still cannot agree on freedom and, instead, live the fake part of it. 

As known around the globe, the most of it, Libyans withdrew a dictator who ruled the country for over four decades. Libyans broke free of chains and molds that controlled them. They were finally set free to fly in the Libyan sky. They turned silence into a voice the world heard loudly. 

Nevertheless, that perfect picture didn't last for long. People's greed, selfishness, lack of dignity, ignorance and other factors broke the bond that we created or were about to create. It left some people, if not many, misuse freedom for their own benefit, when it should be, for the benefit of all. 

https://twitter.com/mohammedshreiff/status/956889731337506816

We have been going through on and off conflicts between militias and out of law forces in different parts of the country. They never cared who they will harm or how much pain they would cause because power and money are what matter. That all it took to destroy many parts around Libya. Agony and sadness found its way in every house and soul. However, we still hold on hope for a better tomorrow. 

One of the things that made me stop and think and maybe redefine freedom is wrecked buildings that were left behind by war. Whenever I pass by a building whether it was a house of a family or a governmental institution, I try to visualize how it was before war. I picture a woman putting her laundery on the washing line while kids play around the house. They laugh and giggle. I also picture a father opening the front door with hands full of grocery bags while calling out his children to help him. 

Another story: maybe that building was a school where I see students wearing their uniforms and holding their books. I hear the sound of teachers at the assembly doing exercises. The picture differs from one person to another but eventually, they share the same value and right which is the right of living. 

I opened my eyes and silence sat in. I saw that wrecked building before my eyes again. It was not a dream, it was a reality. In fact, this is part of our reality now. This old man, you see in the picture above, may share the same vision and wonders why this happened but he merely understands that there is a price for everything. No matter how busy we get, any evidence left by war slaps us hard and wakes us up every single time.