Heaven is not with us

Dawn broke over the ruins. After half an hour of silence and frost, a new convoy appeared. Hundreds of women with their children. Boys and girls. Dressed in black. Their mouths gagged. They walked like mobile prisons, concealing bodies, and bodies concealing souls, and souls containing life. The number of men was unacceptable, and the majority of those leaving were women. The men withdrew in special buses to the countryside to the north. They took their families with them. Those who retreated ahead of us, not heading in their direction, were the ones who remained, or those who remained. Medina withdrew from its people, and they withdrew from it. Returning was not inevitable. At five o'clock, the city was empty. Snow fell like tears on the rubble. Dawn broke over the ruins. After half an hour of silence and frost, a new convoy appeared. Hundreds of women with their children, boys and girls. The women were dressed in black, their mouths covered. They moved like mobile prisons, concealing bodies within, bodies concealing souls, and souls concealing lives. The number of men was small; the majority of those leaving were women. The men withdrew in special buses to the countryside and the north, taking their families with them. As for those who left before us, whose origins remain unknown, they are either those who stayed or those who departed. The entire city was emptied of its inhabitants, and they of it. Their return is uncertain. By five in the afternoon, the city was deserted. Snow began to fall like tears upon the ruins.