Thirteen Deities

Shadia must have fallen asleep at some point because she knew what she was seeing was nothing short of a fever dream. She found herself flying over the city, farther and farther away from the security guards that pursued her. A sense of hope rushed over her and her heart began to race as she rose higher toward the midday sky. She was looking for her mother and her dog. She had no idea how, but she wanted to take them along with her to somewhere new. Somewhere they could all live free and happily.

She felt the presence of a powerful enemy, one that could fly as well and was quickly gaining on her. She flapped her arms franticly and changed direction but instead, the world around her began to melt away. Once again, she found herself surrounded by the cold walls of her cell and began to sob uncontrollably.

"I'm never getting out of here." She cried to herself.

The emotions she felt were piling up inside and she could not take it anymore. And then, it came to her again. She hated to think that thought more than anything but her mind was beginning to lose the battle.

"Find something sharp and be done with it." The voice of her despair whispered to her again.

She sobbed even harder because then her mother would be left alone in this world.

"No. I'll never take my own life. Even life in prison is better than the grief Mama would have to go through if I killed myself."

Shadia laid her head back on the hard stones of the floor and tried to calm herself down. Sleeping was the only numbing medicine she had at her disposal.

Just a few seconds later, just as she was about to enter the dream world again, the main door of the jail block opened and she sat up immediately as if someone would punish her if she didn't. The head of the Moral Security guards walked in with a cup in her hand.

"How do you feel? Are you in pain?" She asked Shadia.

Shadia looked at the officer through her tears and answered with a sad smile" I'm fine, thank you."

"You'll be alright. Stop crying so much. Here, this might help your nerves to calm down."

The officer gave her the cup which was filled with excellent hot tea and as she turned away to leave, she told her," You can check the Prayer Cell if you like. There are some copies of Avaa books there that you can read. Might help you pass the time."

Shadia did not realize the officer had gone until she heard the cell block door being locked. She drank her tea which made her burst into tears again for it tasted exactly like the cups of tea she had enjoyed with her mother throughout the years that had passed. Before everything had become so intolerably difficult.

"How the hell did I even end up here?" She asked herself for the billionth time.

She was done with the tea so she put away the cup and stepped out of her cell to the Prayer Cell just across from hers. She found a translated copy of an Avaa book, which was said to be the book directly sent by the Thirteen Deities to mortal humans for guidance and immunity against sin. She whispered a silent prayer, implored the gods to answer and gently opened the dusty book.

"We shall grant those oppressed by the tyrants of their day, the blessing and the permission to fight back. To those of you believers who have been unjustly forced away from your homeland."

It was undeniable. The Thirteen Deities could not have been more accurate in their answer. Shadia felt for the first time in her life that they had noticed her, that she mattered. Still, that did not make anything easier. She had never had to be so brave in her life as the gods wanted her to be now. This meant that she had to take action. But how and where?

She was too tired and emotionally drained to think straight. She then heard a familiar voice echo in her restless mind. It was her mothers," It will all be clearer once you've rested enough, love. It will come to you, I promise."

She felt warm and oddly encouraged. Tomorrow the guards would come for her early and take her to the Moral Court for the judge's final verdict. As the gods had said, she was blessed and permitted to fight back. But how would she do that? She wasn't a fighter at all.

As she pulled her pathetic excuse for a cover over her head to feel warmer, a thought vibrated strongly in her head and convinced her," It will come to you."