At Lee’s official residence in Yangon, sitting in front of the ninety-six-inch smart television, with anxious hearts Kim and Su were watching the incidents unfold. While sipping tea, they got the news of Win Thura’s death in Mandalay as well. According to the national media, the Rohingya terrorists were the main suspects. The mother and her daughter were trying their best to suppress the unfamiliar terror which had gripped them. Su learned from Rafiq that his elder brother had joined the rebels. She did not tell her mother this fact, assuming that the rebels would never take the newcomer in this kind of mission. Nevertheless, she was extremely worried.
“Do they have any chance of getting away?” Kim asked Su.
“I don’t know mother,” in an oblivious manner, she replied.
“What do they want?”
“Who knows, maybe they’re doing it for publicity,” this time Su’s tone sounded a bit more serious.
“For publicity they do it!” Kim exclaimed.
“Yes mother, for publicity extremists often resort to this kind of method.”
“Don’t they think about the kind of disgust they incur?”
“If they were smart, they wouldn’t be in this business to begin with,” Su tried to explain.
After a brief pause, Kim touched the point she had been trying to convey. “Could it be they’re after your father?” her voice trembled as she asked.
The inconvenient question struck Su like a dart. She turned her attention to her mother and quietly gazed at her for a few moments while organizing what she was going to say. She knew she had to address her fears. “Oh come now mother, why would they come after dad? They have no personal issue against him,” with a steady voice Su tried to convince Kim.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Suddenly, Su remembered her plan to go to the shopping mall. Three days earlier, she acquired the visa from the Turkish embassy. Her air ticket was also ready, but she had not yet fixed the exact date of her departure. The visa was valid for six months. Within six months, she could fly to Turkey whenever it was convenient for her. She planned to communicate with Rafiq from Istanbul, and then together, they would apply for asylum in Turkey. Su was in a hurry. She didn’t care to have her lunch. Her mother had been still sitting before the television when Su left for the popular departmental store One Hundred Nineteen. Usually, Su buys all her clothes from there. There was slight drizzle outside but no sign of relief from the unbearable heat wave. The departmental store was roughly a mile from the Chong Woa bus stop. As the bus dropped her off right in front of the store, she rushed into the air-conditioned environment to save herself from the hellish atmosphere outside. For about an hour, Su walked through the isles buying clothes and other necessities. It occurred to her that she should buy something for her husband as well. She bought shirt and trousers for him. When the clock struck two, she came out of the store and stood at the bus stop opposite the departmental store. Having three shopping bags in each hand, when she reached the gate of her residence, the guards were missing. She thought perhaps they were inside their residence. As she closed the gate, she kept telling herself, it was not right to leave the gate open like that. She walked past the gate, moving towards the entrance of their living room.
Exactly at three o’clock, the shock troops began their assault against the rebels. From behind the three tanks, they were firing at the rebels. From a helicopter, a group of commandos were dropped off on the rooftop of the church. From there they would storm the church. But in the staircase the rebels had been waiting for them. The loud noises of gunfire rattled the entire staircase. On the other hand, from the front side of the church, a tank approached the entrance cautiously. It was being followed by five soldiers. Suddenly at lightning speed, an RPG fired by the rebels slammed onto the front part of the tank, instantly setting it ablaze. The noise of the explosion could be heard from all around the neighborhood. In order to save themselves from the splinters of the exploding grenade, the soldiers threw themselves on the ground.