Graves under Waves
By Abdelgabar Dosa
This story although sounds a fictional adventure, it is derived from the true events of the atrocities committed in Darfur, Sudan, since as early as before 2003 and further on. It is also taking the reader through how those tragical events, led to unfold the subsequent events and adventures, which the protagonist has experienced all through the story and thereafter, and to lead him through unidentified events to that terrifying escape from deadly circumstance to another. The names of the characters and some of the names of the places are fictional; however, some places are also mentioned in their true names as they represent key elements to the story.
The city of (El Fasher) for example, is mentioned because it represents the capital of Darfur since the reign of sultans of Fur tribe dynasties who ruled the region when it was an independent Sultanate, hence, El Fasher, is the historical capital of Darfur region until today. Although, power diversified in terms of nature, belonginess and ethnicity all through the centuries of power alternations, the city remained the focal point and the iconic identity that represents the existence of the interactivity and inevitable role of Darfur in contemporary Sudan.
The story takes the reader across four main stages, and which the protagonist tells in episodes, each stage encompasses several dramatic events through which the protagonist and other characters have undergone. The book also takes the reader eagerly through the different and immense events that shaped the beginning and end destiny of the protagonist and others in his companionship. Many of the critical and terrifying situations and moments that the protagonist of the story experienced, are narrated smoothly and interestingly to bring the reader as close as to becoming part of the story rather than just being a reader.
The first stage describes how the protagonist and others experienced the terrible moments of the atrocities which turned their happy life into misery and sadness, and how he and others escaped that horrible fate. The second stage describes his long stay as an internally displaced person in camps, a life that is completely different to the one he used to live, and how he and his companions adapted to that new life. Stage three describes the thinking of finding way out of that life and seeking a better future after gaining some new knowledge and aspiration for being close to a city life. The long events that unfolded throughout the journey to achieve that goal, led him to undergo and be forced to digest many bitter occasions. Stage four reflects the transformation that the protagonist has gone through, and the end destiny of a long journey from escaping deadly attack on a small village in a remote point to a different experience of life and gains that led him to a completely successful transformation in a different world.