In life, everyone has dreams that represent their hopes, aspirations, and the future they want to create. For some, achieving these dreams seems like a bright, endless sky, full of opportunities. For others, however, these dreams are threatened by forces that seek to break them, to steal them, and to turn their hopes into despair. These forces are the “dream stealers.”
For me, an Afghanistani girl, the Taliban are the dream stealers.
I, the dreamer, have just spread my wings to fly toward my dreams and an endless sky. I wanted to break the chains that held me back. But just as I was about to fly, the cruel hunters, the Taliban, targeted my wings from the ground. With a broken heart and a wounded soul, I fell to the ground. My eyes, full of longing, were locked on the endless sky of my dreams.
As time passed, dark clouds began to cover my sky. Lightning and thunder shook my world, and the rain made my wounded wings wetter. The Taliban chained my feet so I could never fly away. These cruel hunters found joy in watching my affliction and pain. My body, once free, was now trapped in a dark and narrow cage of limitation, where laughter and hope seemed impossible.
The Taliban did not only limit us physically; they took our education, our books, and pens. The classrooms, once full of excitement and enthusiasm, are now quiet and dark. The books that were windows to the future are now closed. These hunters want to turn our world into a prison of ignorance and fear.
But I am here to say these hunters are wrong.
We are not their victims, rather, we stand up against them to fight back. Even with our wounded wings and our hands and feet bound by chains, we will walk toward our dreams. I am not alone. All the girls will break out of these cages because it is our right to learn. We stand for our right to education, for our freedom, and for a future where no dream stealer can break our wings. This is our fight, and our story is far from over. This is our story, and the fight will continue.
– ‘Khadija’
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