Day thirty-four

We were all rescued and in cabins of the Australian warship. Andrew gave me food and apologised for not being able to rescue us earlier.
After sometime Andrew left, Omar entered with the ball! :)

Day thirty-three

Peopla on the deck are yelling and screaming. Rashida calls us to come up. There was a warship next to our tiny boat..it was the Australians!! :D

Day thirty-two

The area below the deck was awash with water. We were trying to scoop it out using vegetable tins. However, it was useless. Bibi was exhausted but was caring on.

Day thirty-one

I'm having a good dream about dazzling the cup final crowd with my footwork. Bibi screams and i see that a HUGE foam-spewing wave is crashing down onto us!!!

Day thirty

People at the front of the boat start screaming. Another boat approaches us - a pirate boat! The smugglers greet them and they jump onto the pirate ship with the bucket of valuables. The pirates weren't looking for money or jewellery, they were looking for girls who were out of doors without their parents! i immediately pull Bibi's headscarf off and put the t-short hat on her head instead and tuck her hair under it. She knots her skirts between her legs so that it looks like a baggy shorts. I tell Omar to give the shorts to Rashida so that she can do the same. I wrap the blanket around her and rub my hand over her face until her makeup is so smudged it looks like dirt and green stains. We sit down and start knee bouncing the ball to one another except Omar.
Then, a pirate comes to us and swings his foot at the ball. My leg responds faster then my brain and i trap the ball and slide it to one side. His kick misses and he falls. Other pirates laugh. He gets up and kicks me in the hip real hard. Omar holds Bibi so that she's not able to kick back the pirate. Tears stream down and the pain was killing me. Only after Rashida rubs my hip for ages, i managed to sit up. The pirates had gone and the smugglers had abandoned us. We were in the middle of the ocean starving with three scared sailors.

Day twenty-nine

Bibi asks me how many days we've been on the boat. I tell her five but Omar and Rashida correct me - it was six. Bibi was doing what i was too. Since all the food had run out that morning, we were calculating if we could survive. Bibi was sweating - she was having a fever. i tell her to forget the days and get some rests. "I cannot forget the day Jamal..it's my birthday," She was right!! How could i have forgotten! We wish her miserably. Since i couldn't give her anything, i decide to cheer her up by telling her to plan her a birthday party when he get to Australia. We talk about hamburgers, fizzy drainks and fifty different kinds of ice creams in supermarkets. Rashida says that her Mom loved supermarkets. We were puzzled for a moment. That's when she tells us that she was born in Australia! It seems that when they received a letter from Afghanistan saying her uncles had died in the war, they came to look after her grandparents. But when they had died too, the Afghan government didn't let them return to Ausralia. I think of my relatives too and Bibi's birthday doesn't seem happy anymore.

Day twenty-eight

i wake up and realise that i am no longer seasick and that the rumbling of the engine had stopped and it was quiet and peaceful. Then suddenly a smuggler shouts that there has been a mistake - everyone had to pay an extra hundred dollars if they wanted to go to Australia as they needed money for the fuel. Alot of people start crying. A smuggler and sailor goes aroung thrusting buckets at people to drop in theier money. When it comes to us, i drop in two breads but the sailor flings them into the sea. Bibi growls. Rashida takes out a watch from her suitcase and drops it in. " Four people" she says and they move on. I feel like hugging her. It was her Dad's. I hope that if the same thing happens to Mom and Dad, Mom would give up her wedding ring without a fight.

Day twenty-seven

For breakfast, everyone gets a piece. They thank me and say that i'm a genius. I don't feel good at all though. The sea was choppy and seasickness was killing me. Rashida gives me some water. I remind myself that we're going through all this so that in the end our lives will be what we dreamed for.

Day twenty-six

It was very nice of Rashida to let me use the flour. It was night now and Bibi was sleeping in the deck with the rest. I had managed to talk to the sailors using sign language and was baking bread on a diesel engine. The area under the deck was awash with water till knee depth. However, i figured that i wouldn't mention it to the others and make them anxious.

Day twenty-five

She invites us to sit with her on her blanket and introduces herself. She was Rashida. She says that her parents had saved money so many years for this trip but when they found out that they could only afford one ticket they gave it to her. Omar joined us and was being quite annoying. Rashida unzips a large pink suitcase and takes out a can of sardine and a plastic bottle of water. We divide that among ourselves. To past some time and forget about our fears awhile, Bibi and i teach her how to bounce the football with our knees while sitting down. When she realises that we're sunburnt she takes out some cream and gives it to us. I realise that our survival might depend on that pink suitcase of hers. Although it was rude to do so. i peeked into it and saw something very precious - FLOUR!

Day twenty-four

Many people are throwing up but Bibi and I seem fine. Two sailors were dishing out up from a metal pot and giving them to people like us who have been in the queue for ages. The person infront of us was completely covered with a dark blanket. When the person held out their hands for the soup i realised that her blanket was very close to the gas flame under the pot and the flame caught its edge! I shout 'FIRE!' and drag the blanket of the person and fling it onto the deck and jump on it. Bibi helps me. After i put out the fire and turn to hand it over to the person i get the shock out of my life. It was a teenage girl wearing shorts and t-shirt, Her limbs were bare and she was wearing makeup! She thanks me and turns to the sailor and helds out a tin. However, the sailor shouts at her in a language i don understand but i know that he means that she doesn't get any food. Before she opens her mouth to protest, he waves her away. Bibi told him that it was unfair as she did not start the fire. I take a step forward too.
Then the teenager grabs my hand and says that is wan't worth it. "I bet they didn't wash their hands before opening the soup packet," she says
I like her already...

Day twenty-three ;

Bibi and the sailor in yellow overalls almost got into a fight. I managed to calm Bibi and explain our situation to another smuggler. However, he doesn't understand. Then, we saw the boy from the camp wet, with my ball. We introduce ourselves to one another and decide to be patient as there wasn't any radar or radio signal to contact the other boat.
Patience

Day twenty-two ;

I jump into the water to rescue Bibi but it doesn't help. Then, someone pulls us up; we're on the deck. Mum and Dad are in the other boat and the distance between us is getting wider and wider :(

Day twenty-one ;

People rush to the boats as the gates open. I grab Bibi and try to get closer to Mum and Dad. Then, she squirmers through the crowd to get the ball!! I shout at her telling her that we'll lose Mum and Dad. But she says that we won't be able to fulfill our dreams without the ball. She's right also...but..isn't staying together important too? Then, the boy from the camp comes along and tries to get the ball also. Then, he falls into the water!! I go to a man n yellow who looks like a sailor and try to get help. Unfortunately, all i get in return is a tight slap that makes me see stars and because Bibi kicked him, he throws her into the water!!