Unfinished Dreams; Kankor Without Afghan Girls

Part Two | Silence After the Dream

Social Media

Author: Roina Bakhshi

Raihan’s beautiful heart had become deeply saddened by the events of those days. Everything appeared vague and unclear to her, and she didn’t know what to do.

As she was walking home, chatting with Mursal, her heart fluttered like a bird in a cage. Unpleasant whispers reached her heart. People in the cities wandered in fear and sorrow because of the war and violence.

Raihan and her friends were worried about their educational future, fearing that they might no longer be allowed to attend school, and that the repressive government would bury their thousands of hopes.

— “Goodbye, Mursal. Until we meet again.”

— “Have we arrived? No thoughts are left in our minds, lost in uncertain thoughts.”

“My daughter, welcome home. Come, I’ll bring you something to eat.”

“No, Mom, I have no appetite… I just want to sleep and hide inside a dream.”

It was as if this time, her dream had truly turned bitter. Kabul was handed over to the Taliban by the government. Time stopped, and everything suddenly vanished into smoke and air.

Raihan sat silently in a corner, staring at the wall without saying a word. It was as if her eyes had lost the ability to blink. A dark era began for her and for other girls. Sleep fled from her hazel eyes; she no longer knew which dream to cling to, or with what motivation to wake up each morning.

Raihan wondered how she was supposed to live from now on; how to breathe in this dusty, suffocating air that tormented her heart and eyes, how to comprehend this horror. She had fallen into depression. She no longer enjoyed leisure or laughter. She barely spoke. Her almond-shaped eyes remained fixed on some unknown point, and tears streamed from them like a flood.

After the government announced that women and girls must stay at home, banning them from school, university, and work, Raihan and her friends suffered a severe psychological blow. They were mentally and emotionally shattered. They had never imagined such a day would come. Dreams that remained only dreams, and hands that never reached them.

When she placed her schoolbooks and supplies in a cabinet so she wouldn't have to look at them anymore, her heart wept blood.

Who could have believed she would end up like this one day? Raihan was no longer the same Raihan; she had become weak, withdrawn, and irritable. At home, she often lost her temper, especially with Rahmat, her playful and stubborn companion.

Rahmat would constantly tease her with words that, to him, were just harmless jokes:

“You’ll never go back to school or university. You have to stay home and do all the housework.”

Sometimes, through jokes and without meaning to, we kill people with the bullets of our words.

Raihan’s soul‑searing pain and her hands bound in chains had ignited a deep knot within her thoughts. Her social connections with friends and relatives had faded. She carried out household chores but always wanted to stay in her room, lying on her bed.

Stress and pressure had consumed her. She spent her time alone, crying and grieving in silence.

Every time she listened to the news, she wished everything had changed, but no… it was nothing more than a dream, a fantasy.

Some of her friends and classmates had left the country and migrated. Raihan’s family, however, was struggling financially and could not afford to leave. Her family watched her suffering and felt heartbroken.

Spiteful relatives would repeatedly say:

“No girl can go to school anymore, and there’s no need for them to study anyway. Girls should do housework and get married as soon as possible.”

Raihan did not want to marry right now, and she despised such hated remarks. But no one truly understood her or cared to. Her three closest friends were also suffering, perhaps even more than she was.

Mursal left the country with her family. Rana got married to her cousin who lived in Badakhshan and moved there. Only Raihan and Hadia remained in Kabul.

The pain of separation from her two dearest friends had left Raihan sorrowful. She loved them deeply and missed them immensely. She longed to see Mursal and Rana again, but now, that wish had become impossible; a distant reality.

The migration of loved ones breaks the back of resolve and weighs heavily on the heart.