"This Used To Be Our Home"

My teacher pointed at the blackboard with words written: This used to be our home. I pondered what the meaning might be as a student. I boldly asked him what he means by the words written on the board. He underlined the word “used” and emphasized it when he said the sentence. He began telling me.

The boy ran home from school with news to tell his family. He had passed all of his exams. Upon arrival, he presents his exam result paper to his parents. They shouted in glee and joy with the news. He walked for one hour to school every morning and back every afternoon. His teachers taught him stories, history, and math. His only material was using his brain to remember all that he had learned. He made sure to receive every opportunity to learn so he can grow up and help people around him. The boy knew he wanted to become a doctor, even with the minimum chances of being one.

During a break after his math lesson, the boy saw a man’s leg detached from his body. Blood bleeding out to the ground as people carried him. He and his classmate were told to go back to class. In the room, a teacher enters and explained that the man had stepped on a landmine. The lessons went on without conversations. When school ended, the boy was ready to see his family after the horrible scene he saw earlier. He and his classmate head out on the road to leave but there was a sound that came from the school. Everyone rushed back. The school was heavily guarded by soldiers armed with rifles. The boys ran to the scene but saw their teachers piled up on the ground as blood dripped from them.

The boy felt a sharp pain from his leg. An older man helped him up to lean his back against a tree. His head is spinning in confusion about what had happened. He was given water to drink from the same older man who helped him. From his confusion face, the older man told him that he is safe for now. He was hit in the leg from the soldier who fired his rifle at him. The older man explained that his leg will need to be amputated if he wants to live. The boy was still unsure, but he knew he wants to live. He was given a camouflage army clothes. For the next few years, he followed the men who trained him to fight and fire his rifle. Even though his leg is cut off, he created woods to support his leg. Image of his family, his teachers, and soldiers who nearly killed him played in his head like a videotape without stop mode.

He grew up fighting instead of helping people. He grew up wearing an army uniform instead of a doctor uniform. He held a rifle instead of a stethoscope. When he retired, his only place to go was the refugee camp. He decided to educate himself with what he had from back in school. He became a teacher even in his old age.

My teacher repeated the sentence written on the blackboard. This time I noticed that his words convey meaning. When he emphasized “used,” I realized that there is a deeper meaning. Meaning that carried a loss and sorrow. The home he talked about is his school where he had dreams, future, and family. But the home he knew shattered into pieces.

By Tay M.