The walls on the apartment hallway were peeling and damp with mold. Filling the air with his cigarette smoke, Y walked down the hallway glaring at each door number until he found his target; 6A. He stopped and knocked three times. Some noise could be heard before the door opened and a slim middle aged man was standing before Y. “You Y?” the man asked. Y smiled and nodded, “Yes sir.” The man let Y in. Y tossed his cigarette aside and headed for the couch. He waved at a woman standing at the kitchen doorway. She gave him a nasty look but kept quiet. Y shrugged it off and sat down. The man stood across the coffee table, “You have it?” Y dug in his inner coat pocket and pulled out a black rectangular box. He set it down on the table and slid it to the man. The man picked up the box and opened it. Resting in a velvety cloth were a number of glowing green shards. He let out a chuckle and closed the box, “You want something to drink?” Y shook his head, “I want my money.” The man reached into his pocket. A sudden noise came from his wife. Y and the man both looked over at her. She looked flustered. “Isn’t this enough already!? Those damned drugs are just gonna get us in trouble! And you’re even bringing in this random man in here. He could be a cop!” She yelled. Y let out a hearty laugh, “You know she has a point.” The man began laughing just as hard as he walked over to his wife. He pulled out a gun and rested it on her head. The laughter stopped and a deep silence filled the room. He cocked the gun and pressed it deeper against her head. “I don’t rememb-” A loud creak interrupted him. He turned around and saw Y standing a few inches from him. A pipe wrench dropped from Y’s sleeve. Y raised his arm and brought down the wrench with great force onto the man’s head. At the same time the man managed to get a shot into Y’s abdomen. The man dropped like a ragdoll and Y stumbled back. He pulled the bullet out of his vest and went through the man’s pockets. “You asshole! Did you kill him?!” The wife shouted. Y ignored her and grabbed the money from the man. He split off a portion of bills from the stack and reached out to the wife. “Sorry for the trouble, honestly.” Her hands shaking, she grabbed the money. Y headed for the door. He stopped and looked at the box on the table, then back at the wife who seemed to care more about the money than her husband. He grabbed the box and slid it in his jacket. Y walked out the door and back down the damp and peeling hallway. I hate this job, he thought to himself, lighting up a cigarette.

The sun goes back home

Back to its raging domain

Shadowy mind state

Light does not reach this dark space

This space that I call my own

The lives of millions of people in Afghanistan have been handed over to an oppressive force ever since the withdrawal of American troops. When I saw this on the news, I had thought it was a good thing that America had withdrawn because I thought their presence was what was causing more conflict. I also kept in mind the thousands of soldiers that had died in the past during the war. To me the withdrawal meant an end to a tiresome war. Although, with this thinking I hadn’t considered the point of view of Afghan civilians. 

I stumbled upon a post on Instagram that covered facts about the current situation at the time. I learned more about what the withdrawal actually meant for the people of Afghanistan. Hundreds of regions quickly began to fall to Taliban forces, and soon even the president had fled. The way of life for most Afghans are at risk of being forcefully changed. I slowly started to side with the feelings of those that were upset at the U.S. government for withdrawing. In a related post there were soldiers that were stationed in Afghanistan and even some veterans who voiced their opinions on the issue. In general, they expressed that it was a cowardice move of the U.S. government and that the soldiers themselves felt upset that they couldn’t keep on protecting Afghan civilians. 

The war is more than just a battle for national security but for the lives of innocent people. The withdrawal means loss of rights for the men and women of Afghanistan. It means the U.S. is turning back on their basic ideal of protecting human rights.