Chara didn’t know what was going on, but there were people shouting outside, and they could hear gunshots.
The night felt suffocating, without even the light of the moon to break the darkness. What if…what if the voices were jinn looking for children to devour…? Everyone knew that the jinn liked the abandoned times the best; that was when they could catch a poor human all alone.
Load shedding lasted from 9pm to 4am in their district, and their best guess was that it was somewhere around midnight. Chara wouldn’t even be able to turn a light on, and, and,
Their parents were scary, and would probably love for a jinn to come and steal Chara away. But, but, even though they wouldn’t care, the jinn wouldn’t know that. Chara could sit quietly in the corner of their parents’ room, and the jinn would think there were two strong adults protecting them. They would decide that it wasn’t worth the risk, and find another child to eat.
Chara slid off their cot, slipped on their home sandals, and tried to feel their way from their room to their parents’. However, just as they reached their parents’ doorway - Chara tripped and fell flat on their face, scraping their cheek in the process.
Tears filled their eyes. The, the jinn would hear that, but so would -
“Chara? Chara, you stupid donkey - what the hell are you doing?” It seemed like Chara’s father was still asleep, but their mother…”You ugly dog child. Get out of here.”
“But, Mama, the jinn - “ Their voice shook; they didn’t want to risk making her angry, but at the same time…they didn’t want to be eaten, either. Maybe, maybe if they could prove they could be quiet, she would let them stay.
“Mama, you say. Jinn, you say. You stupid child, jinn are the least of your problems.” Chara could hear the sound of someone getting up, and, quick as a flash, their mother yanked them up by the hair.
Chara cried out in pain. That didn’t seem to be the right answer.
“You dog. Are you crying? Are you crying?”
“N-no, no, I’m…” They were crying, and trying desperately to conceal that fact. Their efforts didn’t seem to be good enough, though, because their mother released their hair to grab their neck.
“Next time I hear you crying over nothing, I will cut your tongue out. Now, get out.” She shoved Chara through the doorway, and returned to her cot.
They couldn’t do anything for a while but lay on the ground, too afraid that the jinn might decide to catch them after all if they moved too far away.
They…they had to think. What did they do wrong? They made too much noise, and, and, she hadn’t liked that. And they cried. They weren’t supposed to make noise, and they weren’t supposed to cry.
There were many invisible rules they had to follow, but if they could learn them all and abide by them perfectly, they would never be hurt, right? And, and they would get to keep their tongue.
This was just a learning experience, in the end.
