Vision in Red by Sajjad Rasool - HTML preview

Vision in Red

as if a filter had been removed from her vision and she was seeing the world in its true colors for the first time.

She found herself watching the shadows. Checking the corners of buildings. Looking for shapes that didn't quite fit, figures that stood too still, eyes that caught the light wrong.

At the checkpoint, she slowed her pace, drawing Noor closer. The soldiers waved them through without looking twice —routine, ordinary, the same as every other morning. But as they passed, Amal glanced back.

One of the soldiers was watching them go.

His posture was rigid, his face hidden by the shadow of his helmet. His weapon hung at his side, his fingers loose on the stock. And his eyes—

Amal blinked. Looked again. The soldier had turned away, was saying something to his partner, was moving in the normal way that soldiers moved.

You're imagining things, she told herself. You're tired. You're scared. You're seeing what you expect to see.

But she could not shake the feeling that for just a moment—just a heartbeat—she had seen something that wasn't quite human looking back at her.

The school was busier than usual when they arrived. Parents clustered near the entrance, speaking in low, urgent tones. Teachers moved between groups, their faces drawn with worry.

Amal kissed Noor goodbye and watched her run toward a cluster of girls, then turned to find out what was happening.

"Did you hear?" Um Reem, one of the other mothers, appeared at her elbow. "Half the children in the city woke up screaming last night. Same time. Same nightmare."

Amal's stomach dropped. "What nightmare?"

"Something about soldiers. About cars. About—" Um Reem shook her head, her expression troubled. "My Reem said she was in a car, and there was a girl crying, and men with guns who wouldn't stop shooting. She's never been in anything like that. We've never even been on that road. But she described it like she was there."

"Noor had the same dream," Amal heard herself say. "Exactly the same."

Um Reem's eyes went wide. "Allah protect us. What does it mean?"

Amal didn't have an answer.

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