character :: Farrah
Life was very simple for the mother of two, living close to her family in Baghdad, Iraq where she grew up and enjoyed the love and warmth of her kin. Her life had all she hoped for: a loving husband, two perfect sons and a home that they could call their own but all the while, tensions were rising. The United States ordered several airstrikes that tore apart families, destroyed businesses and killed many innocent people in their path: all for the sake of oil, a precious commodity that the US felt they deserved. The Middle East bans together to fight back, protecting their own families but this plays right into the trap that the United States has laid: the US uses this as reason to attack the ‘hostile’ countries until they are nothing more than a wasteland of rubble, death and caustic air that isn’t fit for a human to breathe. After discovering that her husband was killed in one of these airstrikes, Farrah has no choice but to rely on her sister, Hajirah, and her husband, Hameed, for support. Farrah is taken to an underground shelter built for Hameed, his wives and many children while, outside, the bitter war rages on. Even the basic comforts, things such as food and water, are something to be celebrated in these desperate, hard times.
Although her sister Hajirah speaks about a revolutionary woman looking to fight back and a mad armor maker who has crafted armor to repel the air, Farrah wants nothing more than peace: she doesn’t want to cause more pain for anyone, even if they are the enemy. Her docile, kind and optimistic nature may be naive but through her faith and the love of her sister, as well as her new husband, Hameed, she may not be out of the game just yet. Given enough time, Farrah may very well find her own strength and become a leader in her own right.
