streams of salt and H2O leak down reddened cheeks and condense in a golden beard. a war-torn nation, half-a-world-away, crystallizes clear as dayspring in an insomniac's screaming and fragile psyche at half-past-three in the morning. what strength must a seven-year-old posses to persevere amidst the perversity of cluster bombs? munitions bought and paid for with the taxes we fork over to the United States. will her blood one day stain our hands with crimson? will her mother's? a girl who just wanted to read, to escape the tragedy that inundates our surroundings, to a magical realm of pure imagination. where we can summon spectral stags to save us from the misery of humanity and learn to disarm those who would harm us with the charm, Expelliarmus! the bastion where i found the first seeds that grew into a rebellion opens its doors to you, Bana. there's a crater where your house used to be, rubble strewn in Aleppo, Syria. but know that Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.
As I lay awake, tossing and turning, I picked up my phone and began scrolling through my Twitter feed. Then I saw J.K. Rowling RT this:
The account belongs to a mother and daughter in Aleppo. The mother tweets out her daughter's thoughts and commentary on the war. These words came pouring out as quickly as the tears.