A Long Way Gone

by Ishmael Beah

We didn’t know that we were leaving home, never to return.

Whenever I get a chance to observe the moon now, I still see those same images I saw when I was six, and it pleases me to know that that part of my childhood is still embedded in me.

These days I live in three worlds: my dreams, and the experiences of my new life, which trigger memories from the past.

This was one of the consequences of the civil war. People stopped trusting each other, and every stranger became an enemy.

“If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die.”

“How many more times do we have to come to terms with death before we find safety?” he asked.

My childhood had gone by without my knowing, and it seemed as if my heart had frozen.