THE ARAB
PRINCESS
WRITTEN BY VERÓNICA BARCO
ILLUSTRATED BY ISABELLA MAZA
Their names are...
Leia
Saphir
No one knew but them two, that they were not only friends. They
were more. They had discovered a couple years earlier that the
way their eyes lingered on each other’s faces was for more time
than what was considered friendly, or the way that Leia´s eyes
stayed on Saphir’s lips for far too many moments was not meant
for childhood friends. They did not only want to travel together,
but they also wanted to be together. As something more.
No one had ever caught them together, but the way both of their faces
turned pale at the announcement of the soon to be engagement of Leia,
showed something different. The king repeatedly asked why was his
daughter so afraid to get married to an appropriate man,
but his daughter had no words to explain why.
So, she just remained silent
while her heart slowly shattered.
Was this the moment they were both dreading for?
Was this the end to the late night meets at the top of the castle?
Or the end of the hand to hand walks they did in the shadows of
the kingdom?
Was this actually the end?
Both Leia and Saphir knew they were
not going to be ever let be together.
They were both girls, and that was not
socially acceptable. That was
considered wrong, disgusting for
some, and an abomination for their
parents.
So, as soon as they had the chance,
they both fled..
They had had a plan for
some time now, because
they both knew this was
due for some time, just
not so soon as it had
happened. They started
running as fast as they
could until they reached
a train station they had
discovered could take
them to the west, far
from this place, far from
these beliefs and far from
their parents...
This was their shot at being
together.
This was it.
This was the only exit.
And as soon as that, they
were in the train, leaving
their kingdom together, in a
mission to find refuge in a
western country, were the
hands they had intertwined,
were no longer considered
to be a crime..