The Story of Zahra

Zahra, now in Beirut at the start of the Lebanese Civil War, finds relief in the chaos of the conflict; as the war continues, the pressure to marry and socialize is absent. She is free to sleep, eat, and help her mother in the kitchen, knowing what to expect each day even as her parents worry endlessly and hope for a cease-fire. Promises of a cease-fire come and go, and Zahra worries each time that she will once again have to go out into the world and pretend to be someone she isn’t.

As the war continues and explosions and gunfire ring through the night, the conflict no longer brings Zahra comfort. She wonders how life can go on while the war rages; people return to shopping and eating immediately when there is a cease-fire and then retreat to the safety of their homes once the fighting continues. Ahmad returns home after having been gone for a year; he has combat gear and a rifle. When he visits, he brings them money that Zahra’s father refuses to take.

Soon the war comes to Zahra’s own street. There is a sniper somewhere in her neighborhood, and she notices guards stationed around an apartment building across the street where prisoners are kept.