A Piece of Paper That Changed Everything by Hassan Herzallah

Within minutes, for the first time, we began to see evacuation orders being dropped on the neighborhood where we lived. We started noticing trucks coming to load belongings from our neighbors, and at that moment, my father told us to try to take the most important things with us. I packed some clothes, my book, and my ring that belonged to my friend who had been martyred, along with my siblings’ essentials. My mother was crying, saying, “I will not leave my home,” determined to stay. My older sister, Alaa, was terrified and wanted us to leave as quickly as possible, while my younger siblings, Muhammad and Malak, cried silently. There was a struggle between the sound of shells exploding everywhere and my family’s reluctance to leave our home.