AUREET'S ESSAYS AND STORIES

Why?, 1973

[Written by Aureet after a girl was kidnapped and killed by Arab terrorists]

The Mediterranean sun beat down on Nature's creations. The deep blue cloudless sky curved over Israel's Golan Heights. A road twisted through the green carpeted mountains. Flowers bloomed everywhere. In the distance, peeking from between the trees one could see the red roofs of a kibbutz.

She strolled along slowly, dreaming, in the harmony of nature. She was tanned to a warm chocolate brown, her dark brown hair flowed down her back to her waist. Her bare arms swung loosely at her sides. She was barefoot and from the tip of her toe to the top of her thigh she wore nothing. Her body was built "to kill" but she seemed totally unaware of the effect she made in passing.

Her face was no less breathtaking. Her big deep, long lashed dark brown eyes were far away in a land of dreams. Her nose was small and slightly upturned making her look pixieish. From the gentle smile on her luscious full lips could be seen that she dreamt of wonderful things; of Love. What a perfect picture of peace she made!

Suddenly, out of nowhere, four Arabs appeared. They grabbed her. Her eyes flung wide, startled from her dream. She kicked savagely and opened her mouth to scream. A filthy hand clasped over it, she sunk her teeth in it. The Arab gasped with pain. She screamed, but even as she did, she knew it was in vain. There was no one to hear. She fought wildly, desperately, but they overpowered her and succeeded in binding her.

They lifted her to their shoulders. She turned and twisted doing everything in her power to make it difficult for them. The Arabs were having difficulty breathing. They lowered her to the ground often, but they had to move on quickly. It was then that she realized that these were guerrillas [terrorists] and that they would take her across the border! Her imagination ran wild with uses she would be put to.

She must escape! She was in a cave now. Pain swept from limb to limb; they had not treated her gently. She heard their voices not far away. The ropes cut into her flesh and the skin was rubbed raw beneath them. She spotted a sharp rock in the corner. Slowly she wiggled toward it. At last she reached it and began rubbing the ropes against it. Minutes, that seemed like hours, passed and finally a strand snapped. Slowly the rope gave, strand after strand until, at last, she was free. She untied quickly the rest of the bonds. She rose to her feet. She swayed with pain, but kept her balance. She picked up a rock and silently tiptoes to the opening in the cave.

Ahead of her was a passage and between her and freedom sat two Arabs. Not making a sound, she moved toward them, melting into the shadows. One Arab caught a glimpse of her. She smashed the rock into his skull. The other turned to see what happened but before he could move, he kneeled over with a lump on his head.

A surge of relief and happiness rose in her as she stepped over them into the sunshine. She ran down the mountain side, slipping and sliding and falling. She dived between two bushes. The other two Arabs arrived, quickly assessing the situation and following her path. They searched and searched within arm's length of her. She lay holding her breath, desperately praying that they wouldn't hear her heart crashing away. They gave up and returned to the cave. They aroused the two unconscious guerrillas. There was a shout. One of them spotted her. They quickly and efficiently surrounded her. She tried to make a dash for it, but knew it was no use as suddenly everything turned black.

She woke up in a sea of pain. Her head felt on fire and there was a lump the size of a Ping-Pong ball on her head. The Arabs were asleep on the floor except one who was sitting near her. He too had fallen asleep. Now was her chance! She inched by the

Arab. At long last she was past him! The mouth of the cave was before her. She saw mountains draped by moonlight and the stars twinkling above. She heard the Arab stir! Desperately she ran! She was outside, beneath the night sky! Freedom! Life!

Her head exploded! Red fire danced before her. Then, deep, dark, warm black slowly enfolded her. The beautiful creature fell to the earth. It was all over. The shot echoed and reechoed from the silent mountains.

Oh for Peace!