Maryam at War

Iran-Israel war began on 13 June 2025. The residents of Tehran and some other cities woke up to explosion sounds. All around the world, the media began to broadcast horrifying news of the war, most of the population in Tehran left the city in fear of air strikes, and the government of Iran cut the internet in order to control the news.

Anahita, a long time friend of Maryam's mother, who only knows Maryam briefly, and lives in Canada, lost all communications with Iran. She was worried because Maryam's family was located where the news had reported several bombings.

After trying for several days, she finally managed to make a successful phone call to her friend's house.

Ring ... Ring ... Ring.

Maryam picks up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Ah! Thank god! Finally! Is this Maryam?"

"Yes."

"How are you? Are you all okay?"

"Yes, why shouldn't we be?"

"This is Anahita. I'm a friend of your mother. Remember me?"

"Yes, I remember you."

"Is your mother around?"

"No. My mother is not home."

"Ah ... Well, it's good to know that you all are okay. I was so worried. The news said they just bombed your region."

"Yes. It has been happening for several days now."

Maryam was strangely calm, and talked like she didn't care much about Anahita, or the whole situation. Anahita found that somewhat eerie.

"Okay ... I heard there are shortages. Do you have everything you need in your house?"

"Yes, we have everything. There have been several electricity cut offs, but other than that, things are more plentiful."

"More plentiful?!" Anahita asked in surprise, "How?"

"The water pressure is so high. We could hardly shower before the war, but now, it's awesome! Also, I went to grocery store yesterday. The owner said I can take five creams for the price of one, so I bought a ton of cream. Now we hardly have room in the refrigerator."

"Maryam, that's probably because there are no customers, dairy products have short expiration dates, and their refrigerators can't work properly with all the power cuts. Those things may be spoiled."

"I have had twelve of them already, since we couldn't fit all of them in the refrigerator. They were all good."

Anahita paused, realizing Maryam wasn't grasping the severity of the situation. "Maryam ... are you sure you're alright? Where is your mother?"

"Of course. She went out some time ago. Didn't tell me where she went."

"So ... The situation is scary there, right? All the bombings, explosions, anti-aircraft gun fire ... the news shows it here. And you are in the middle of all of it."

"No, no. It's like fireworks. Even cooler. My mother runs to hide under the stairs when the attacks begin, but I go the opposite direction, to rooftop. I witness all of it from there. Yesterday, a drone flew so close to our house that I could hear the rotors ... you know, a sound like brrrrrrrrrrrrrr."

Anahita's couldn't believe her, and for a moment she thought Maryam was joking. "That's not safe! You should take cover in such situations. Follow your mother next time. We did that during the Iran-Iraq war, and that's the reason we are all alive now. A bomb fell near our house, which was close to your mother's family house. If we hadn't run under the stairs when we heard sirens, both families were probably killed by the explosion and shrapnels."

"Yeah, I have heard that. But that was so long ago. It's different now."

"Different how? I doubt the bombs have become kinder since then."

"There are no sirens anymore."

"But the satellite news informs you when Israelis announce they want to attack a particular area, at least in some cases. You have satellite TV, don't you?"

"Yes, but have you seen that newscaster woman on TV? She knew the Israelis were going to bomb television offices, but she stayed there and kept broadcasting, until the building was hit. Now, her posters are everywhere."

"Maryam, she was just stupid. She was speaking nonsense, repeating stupid propaganda, and waving her finger, acting like she was brave. But she ran out in terror without finishing her sentence as soon as the studio trembled. People are mocking her. You should know better."

"I don't know ... I just think it's cool to be on a poster," Maryam chuckled, "Can you imagine me on one?"

Anahita exhaled sharply, "Maryam, listen. War is no joke. The things I'm seeing in the news are horrible. They just showed a bomb hitting Tajrish square, and cars flew into the air. They were all civilians, minding their own business, but they are all dead or badly injured now."

"Yeah, I have seen the clips. They look so cool! Just like video games! All those missiles flying, warplanes, explosions ... They really should make a video game based on this war. I'm sure it will be awesome!"

Anahita couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Maryam, you realize those missiles, warplanes and explosions kill people right? Real people, not like in video games."

Maryam answered calmly like before, "Yeah, but it's not that bad. I just came back from where a drone had fell near our home. When I heard the crash, which wasn't even that loud, I ran out in my pajamas. I got there fast, and saw a drone had crashed to a tree branch. There was something on the ground, which looked like a part of the drone. I grabbed it and ran back."

Anahita was shocked to hear that. "Maryam, that could have been dangerous. You could have been hurt!"

"No, it's not dangerous. It feels like plastic. There is something written on it. It's damaged, so it's hard to read. Let me examine it closer. There is a C ... then something ... then ... I think it's a 4."

Anahita's voice turned into scream as she yelled, "Maryam! Throw that thing away! Now!"

"But why? I just got it. It would be a shame to ..."

"Just do it! Throw it away!"

"Okay, okay! Why so nervous? Now that I examine it, it looks like garbage anyhow. Perhaps I was too hasty. I'll put it in the garbage bin."

"Nooo! Not the garbage bin! Throw it out of the window! Hurry!"

"Out of the window? But it may land on someone's head. I don't think that's a good ..."

The communication was cut there. Anahita was worried sick, and tried to call back several times, but failed. Finally, when she managed to call hours later, Maryam's mother said that the object Maryam had brought home was a part of a flying toy a kid was playing with. The kid was so surprised to see a grown woman running out barefoot in pajamas to grab his broken toy that he got scared to intervene, and let Maryam run away with his toy. It was just a coincidence that a few letters on it looked somewhat like "C-4".