“When the war started, Mary and I were ten years old. Our football club continued to play on for a while, but then they shut it down. It started to become dangerous for girls. The boys who previously just used to shout at us not to run and to wear a long skirt and a veil are now very powerful. Their army in the north is conquering one city after another, and it’s quite possible that they’ll even reach us in Latakia. They’ll defeat Bashar’s army, kill Bashar and rule the country themselves. I don’t know if it will be worse or better than under Bashar, but one thing I know for sure. For girls like me, Shams and Mary, it’ll be very bad. They’ll forbid us to play football and go to school! Where they’re in power, thirteen year old girls like me are already getting married and having children.”

Short story published by Baobab press in the book Jinde, 2016.
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Narrated by: Halka Třešňáková
Recorded by: Jan Sedláček, Mr Wombat
Audio post-production: Jonáš Richter
Musical accompaniment: Markéta Lisá
Illustrations: David Böhm

Magdaléna Platzová (born 1972)
Magdaléna Platzová grew up in Prague. After studying philosophy and a short acting career, she worked as a journalist at Literární noviny and Respekt. Among other factors she is the author of the novels Aaron’s Leap, The Attempt and The Other Side of Silence, two books of short stories and the children’s book Tonik and the Cave of Dreams. Since 2009 she has been living with her husband and three children in Lyon.

Supported by the Prague City Council and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.