Mohammad Alqarawi

Prof. Kimberly Lewis

ENGL 113A Approaches To University Writing A - 14238
Due on September 27th.
The Story Behind the Wall
Almost every kid is either an alpha kid, or just another one of those followers kids.
However, I was on a whole different level when it came to my social interactions, can be both in
a good way or in a bad way. In short, I used to be the evil angel, the tamed killer doll, till I met
my match by The Wall and the worlds most annoying kid. This isn't the time for a Pink Floyd
intro, but in fact, it's time for Back to the Future, or at least part of the story is related, but we're
going to the past first, as every story has a beginning.
Around the year 1992 in Kuwait, just after the Iraqi invasion was resolved, people
quickly gained traction in their lives and started to build some momentum toward progress. Like
rebuilding their houses, getting back to work, and most notably was people socializing freely,
without the notion of getting shot at anymore. During these wonderful events, I have met an
annoying kid who just didn't want to leave me alone. The reason why I was annoyed because he
was a year younger than me. Im not entirely sure but at least during the childhood period of my
generation, the younger kid almost always had a hard time getting the approval of the older kid
in order to create a friendly relationship, unless he knew how to handle insects or feral cats with
ease and showing how badass he was. That, or just kick the older guys face into submission.

Anyway, my parents invited his parents to our farmhouse. During their visit, my dad was
showing them the damages that was left behind by the Iraqi troops during their ridiculous
invasion. The reason why I say ridiculous is because I still remember one Iraqi soldier telling my
dad I dont even know why Im here. Of course, stupidity is not an excuse to invade our land
but anyway, my dad showed the guests a rusty Iraqi tank that was removed a year later by the
municipality, which was a major shame, as climbing it proved to be both a good exercise and a
wonderful experience. And let us not forget how cool it was telling my friends I have a tank in
my dads farm, what do you guys have other than empty gun shells?. But alas, the rusty tank
was not the star here, and that was because of The Wall.
I can't express my extreme fascination with that wall, it felt to me as if it had a soul, or a
cause other than being just a wall. It was awkwardly positioned in the middle of an open area,
as if it had an otherworldly purpose of some sort. It had several components in its structure like
bricks, cement, metals and so on. It had a darkish color to it in some places of its surface, and the
ground surrounding its area was black here and there as well. Sometimes I would spend hours
gazing at it, completely mesmerized by its existence. To summarize, I had an unexplainable
affinity toward that wall.
Nevertheless, that annoying kid came running to me begging, as well as bugging me to
watch the movie Back to the Future. Holding the VHS cover, waving it and anxiously expecting
my approval. I was not going to disappoint the kid because that wouldnt be nice! So I accepted
and we went watching the movie and I couldn't believe how attached he was to the whole
experience and the events that happened, especially to the part where the boy in the movie got
into the car and time traveled to the past. He literally kept talking about it for an hour! I was

begging him to go away or maintain silence while I was attempting a reunion with my favored
Wall. Then the idea came to me like lightning from the sky! I proposed to him to experience such
a phenomenon, and with no signs of hesitation whatsoever, he accepted with eyes full of tears,
representing joy and astonishment.
We quickly made our way to The Wall. I gave him a 10 meter range walkie-talkie toy; the
mediocre range reflects how technology wasnt at its prime back then, and I made it clear to him
that it is of utmost importance to be able to communicate after the crossing, we didnt want him
to get lost or stuck in that place in a similar fashion to that boy in the movie once hes across. I
have also presented him with my trusty plastic kinked sword, and it was time to train him how to
use the sword in case he ended up in a situation where he needed to defend himself. Needless to
say, he was a fast learner. Then I had to put his running speed to the test, and after testing his
speed, which was obviously an irrelevant variable in the equation, he was ready to exercise
unconditional faith in my beckoning. My words to him were short and concise. Run as fast as
you can toward the absolute center of the wall, and under no circumstance should you close your
eyes. His response was a very strong concession.
In a matter of seconds, he commenced the running toward the walls embrace of reality.
Needless to say, his faith in me, as well as all his ideas regarding real life supernatural
occurrences, shattered like a broken glass into a million pieces. But most importantly, I can see
his adherence to me is slowly disbanding. After his fall, he remained oblivious to his
surroundings till a few moments have passed, as well as his adrenaline surge is no longer
streaming into his support lines. He started crying like the baby he was after both the pain and
the sight of blood had caught up to him. Couldn't make him shut up, and so, moments later I

joined him in a state of weeping after having my buttocks kicked by my dad. I actually told him
and his parents that The Wall did it, but of course, that claim only resulted in a secondary round
of punishment.
Little did I know about the real story behind that Wall. And why did my father had to take
it down a few days later after that incident. Let me tell you, it wasnt because of what I made that
kid do, not at all, because unlike me, my dad abhorred it and couldnt stand its existence on his
property anymore as it had a very dark purpose. That purpose was being an execution wall by
gunfire used by the occupying army. All the dark discoloration and holes resulting in
asymmetries are the results of blood and gun bullets. This kind of knowledge was kept from me
till the time I actually grew up some more and figured it out on my own.
At the end of the day, I managed to achieve my goal which was getting that darn kid off
of my back. My methodologies of solving my own problems might have been unorthodox and
controversial at best, but whatever gets the jobs done was definitely one of my life's
constitutions.