Going to sleep every night was my worst fear. Sleep was usually what got me through the nights, a day couldn't go by without me sleeping. But during July, sleep became my worst enemy. I would stay up for nights on end because of my fear of not waking up. What if there was a bomb in the middle of the night? What if there was an attack? And I would just be, sleeping, and wouldn't wake up.
I was living in a war, a world of surprise, in a country with fear. The news haunted me, it showed every single detail that happened, yet it gave away too much information for a tourist like me. I was afraid, afraid of the soldiers. I saw them go out to war, feeling honored that they were the chosen ones who would protect our country. They seemed so, brave. Some of them died in combat, giving their lives for the rest of us. Protecting us, they would enter Gaza and fight against the HAMAS. I had never lived through a war, a war in which an alarm would sound and you would hide in a bomb shelter not knowing what would happen next. And then, you heard the boom, you never knew if the bomb actually landed or if the Iron Dome had stopped it. I was there, hoping for the best, yet expecting the worst.
The first attack by the HAMAS happened when I was in sleep away camp. We were in the pool and suddenly the camp headmaster announced that we had to return to the camp, which was five minutes away, immediately. The counselor's were scared; therefore, they agreed on not telling us what was happening. As soon as we arrived to camp grounds we were taken into a bomb shelter and we stayed there from 10-12 pm. All of the campers were frightened. No one understood what was happening and we all simply wanted to call our parents. The next day the counselor's explained that there had been a bomb threat and we had been ordered to come back to the camp. As soon as I heard the words bomb threat I felt scared. I did not understand what it meant. I felt as if my life was in risk, and this feeling was one I had never thought about before. How to save myself? How? I kept on thinking. I spent that night in the bomb shelter.
I was living in a war, a world of surprise, in a country with fear. The news haunted me, it showed every single detail that happened, yet it gave away too much information for a tourist like me. I was afraid, afraid of the soldiers. I saw them go out to war, feeling honored that they were the chosen ones who would protect our country. They seemed so, brave. Some of them died in combat, giving their lives for the rest of us. Protecting us, they would enter Gaza and fight against the HAMAS. I had never lived through a war, a war in which an alarm would sound and you would hide in a bomb shelter not knowing what would happen next. And then, you heard the boom, you never knew if the bomb actually landed or if the Iron Dome had stopped it. I was there, hoping for the best, yet expecting the worst.
The first attack by the HAMAS happened when I was in sleep away camp. We were in the pool and suddenly the camp headmaster announced that we had to return to the camp, which was five minutes away, immediately. The counselor's were scared; therefore, they agreed on not telling us what was happening. As soon as we arrived to camp grounds we were taken into a bomb shelter and we stayed there from 10-12 pm. All of the campers were frightened. No one understood what was happening and we all simply wanted to call our parents. The next day the counselor's explained that there had been a bomb threat and we had been ordered to come back to the camp. As soon as I heard the words bomb threat I felt scared. I did not understand what it meant. I felt as if my life was in risk, and this feeling was one I had never thought about before. How to save myself? How? I kept on thinking. I spent that night in the bomb shelter.