Chapter Text
The markets of Kabul were packed, people walking on about their business under the gaze of the sun and the approaching darkened clouds far away. Chatter loud enough to deafen any ambient noise. Aside from the eyes of the Taliban increasingly getting vigilant with rumors of another war popping up left and right from all corners of the streets, life couldn't get any worse from here on out.
Parvana didn't need to imagine how exhausted her boba was when it's evident. The exhaustion set in on her father's face; she helped him walk to the market carrying all of the items in their bag. She helped carefully put down a few items onto the carpet after it was rolled out. Putting her dress onto display.
She stayed close to his side. He wrapped one arm around his daughter as he eased his way down onto the ground, following suit within a short second besides him. Settling down into a kneeling position and her hands folded neatly on her lap.
Parvana's eyes roamed around aimlessly for a little while, focusing onto the background of the market. Her ears tuned out the noise of the ongoings in the market.
Now, they wait for someone to come buy what they have. Her head turned slightly towards the red dress laid out on display. She stared at it with her teal irises focusing in closely onto the details. A twinge of sadness swelled up inside her as her head turned away, glance fleeting away.
‘It’s not fair.’ She thought to herself. She remembered getting the beautiful dress after Boba bought it for her 11th birthday. It costed him a lot to get it, but the bright smile on her face when she was surprised with it made her father’s day a whole lot better. Her family celebrated her birthday after she got back home from her studies in school.
Except she couldn’t wear it. She didn’t find time to put it on when it came to her studies. It was perfectly fine, and there was no damage on it. Not a tear, scratch, or stain on it at all. Yet, they’re putting it up for sale because there was no choice. The tips of her fingers grazed over the jewel embedded in the middle of the dress, feeling its smooth surface.
She wished her older brother could have been there for her. She felt happy with her family, celebrating with them at home. All connected together but without him, he’s a missing puzzle piece. Broken to bits and pieces unable to be put back together again.
“Parvana?” Nurullah called out calmly. Her train of thought got brushed aside, and her focus got brought back too soon by her father. Her hands withdrew swiftly and promptly folded back into her lap. She almost jerked back her arm after her father’s voice spooked her. Almost.
He seemed to catch on as his eyebrow raised up a fraction. Analyzing his daughter’s face for a couple seconds longer before his face relaxed into a small smile. “You looked like you saw a spirit, did you see a peri up in the mountains?” He joked to his daughter.
The look on her face changed barely, save for her lower lip jutting out in a pout lasting for a brief second till she straightened her face quickly and looked in the direction of the market.
Her father’s shoulders shook slightly afterwards. Admittedly, it got way harder to contain his composure. Not after seeing the precious look on his daughter’s face. "Sorry, I won’t embarrass you like that again. I won’t tell mama Jon.” He said reassuringly, placing his hand on her shoulder. Patting her once and retracting his hand.
Her eyes locked onto his face and saw he didn’t mean anything bad. “Thank you, boba.” She replied back to him. Her volume lowered down and undertoned with a hint of appreciation. ‘Hopefully he won’t tell her.’ She thought to herself.
Seeing her daughter understand him, Nurullah nodded and acknowledged her with a hum, moving his head back to face in the same direction his daughter glanced upon. Her eyes still focused on him. A thought came through his mind. His index finger and thumb slid across his beard.
“Here, why don’t you tell me about the silk road? To see what you know from your studies.” He asked calmly. The father straightened his posture and sat more upright. Intent on listening with an open ear.
His daughter blinked once, her eyes turned to him. “The silk road…” She said slowly. For a moment, she tried to recall the details of the lesson she was taught. But nothing came to her head.
Before she could tell him, she heard the sound of sniffing, and pitter-patter close to them. She looked down, and a sharp gasp escaped her breath.
A dog came by their stand, it shouldn’t have surprised her, yet it has. It wasn’t particularly big, but it was getting closer to her dress which isn’t being exposed to sunlight.
Curiosity caught the animal and reeled it in.
“Stay away from my things!” She said to the canine, waving her hand to make it leave. At first it didn’t heed her. Pleas fall onto deaf floppy ears. The dog took a step closer, and its paw landed flat onto the mat near her dress. Panic swept over her.
“Go! I said go away, you silly dog!” Parvana demanded, and her voice got louder. She leaned closer and stood on her knees. “Go-”
In a flash, the words coming out died in her mouth when a nearly deafening roar came from above, reminiscent of thunder. The dog bounced back and ran away as a series of whimpers followed behind it. Echoing across the lands.
Parvana jolted back in surprise almost immediately with a yelp. She would have fallen if her father hadn’t wrapped his left arm around her back. Once she was steady, he let go of her. She turned her head to him.
“Boba, was it supposed to rain today?” She asked him in a hushed voice. Nurullah looked at his daughter with a perplexed expression. “I didn’t think it would today.” He responded, but his voice didn’t hold any certainty.
She looked around. Collectively, every individual in the market halted in their tracks. They stopped whatever they had done upon hearing the noise. One looked up at the sky, till another did and another, the rest of them followed.
Children who were in the stands stepped closer to their parents, taking a peek at the beneath the hood of the stands. Customers murmured confusedly amongst each other. Merchants looked at each other with eyebrows raised, and shrugged to each other, wanting to think nothing of it.
Parvana squinted her eyes. Focusing into the clouds. They would have felt a drizzle by now, a tiny speck of rain falling upon them, soon followed by a downpour. Making everyone pick up in a hurry and leave.
It didn’t happen. Instead, flashes of lightning were faint, barely visible in the condensed masses of vapor. Still, they were there alongside barely audible rumbling.
‘It’s not raining. Could it be a dry storm?’ She thought to herself, staying silent. Being taught on local weather by Boba and in her studies at her school, in this place, it would definitely make sense for it to happen. Yet in the back of her mind, her instincts screamed at her at something being wrong.
Her thoughts kept continuing for a long moment until it screeched to a halt not even a second later by the noises of shouting from the crowd.
“Something’s in the sky!" A small child said to the mother in one of the stands and pointed their index finger towards the sky. A faint orange light can be seen.
Parvana kept her gaze at the clouds along with everyone else, but in that moment, everything went downhill.
No rain left the clouds on that day. Instead, a streak of light exited the storm, and rocketed downwards.
She swore she could have seen a visage of jet-black wings, but it was too fast for her eyes to follow.
The object’s movements blurred as it continued. Passing over the city like a comet, passing outside its borders. It made contact with the ground.
A blinding flash of light came in an instant followed by a deafening explosion with screaming.