November 11th 2003
Dear Diary,
Dad could not come with us as he is having to stay and fight them to protect our country. We had to leave in quite a rush as the Soldiers were sweeping through the city quickly. We had to leave almost everything we had. I am sad that I had to leave my toys but Abeer was even sadder. She is only four so you know what she is like. All I have is my clothes and my backpack with as much food and water as it can carry.
We walked for 6 hours and my feet are red raw from walking and my legs feel like lead. I am so thirsty that my mouth is as dry as the desert but I am only allowed to drink a little bit since this is meant to last us a long time. The phone only has 50% battery and I think that it is going to run out before we get to the port.
We are trying to get to port Abu Flous because we heard that is the evacuation point. Abeer has cried so many tears that she can't cry anymore since she has so little water left in her body. I’m so tired but we are going to do this for over a week I heard.
There are about a hundred other families coming with us all without the older brothers or dads. Me and my friends always wanted to be 16 but now I am so happy I am only 14.
All I see ahead is other families ahead and next to us is more families, and guess what is behind us? More Families! My cheeks are sore from raising them to save my eyes from the blaring sun. Well we are setting up a wee base here for the night as the sun has gone down.
We will see if the soldiers were chasing us in the morning. We are all reciting the prayer:
Diaco.
Alasdair, Tiree High School
