Umaima Baig

Pakistan

Don’t Bring A Gun To A Kite Fight

The Summer of Fourth Grade, I was shot at, with the bullet grazing my hand. It was the day of Basant, a now banned holiday in Pakistan. The sole purpose was to enjoy the day flying kites and have a good time with family and friends. Being in the 4rth grade, I didn’t have much experience with flying kites, so I stood on the roof of my cousin’s house in Lahore watching and enjoying the cool spring breeze of march along with the colorful kites flying everywhere around us in the sky.

That serene moment took a sharp turn when I felt something hit my hand. At first I chalked it up to a pebble or debris hitting my hand, until the warmth started radiating from it. I ignored it as best I could, hoping the pain would just go away. However, the pain didn’t go away; the hot sensation only increased. I looked down and saw my hand covered in my own blood. I was taken inside the house by the elders and my hand was wrapped up. We later found out that the bullet had been fired by the neighbors. It had been a celebratory gunfire which had landed on my hand. We were glad that the bullet didn’t hit my head or any other vital organs. It was a stroke of pure luck that that bullet only hit my hand. I was only left with the strange Basant memory, and a scar on my hand.