Mama pins a yellow star on my coat. I like it, it’s pretty. Mama says something to me then, but I’m too busy touching the new star on my coat to hear her. I’m trying to twist it but it doesn’t twist very much. I look up. Mama and Papa and Ezra have stars on their coats too. I want to hold my star, but it won’t come off my coat. I try to pull it off but it doesn’t move. Mama looks at me then and starts yelling at me. Mama never yells at me. She says I’m not supposed to take off my star.
**
I’m walking down the street with Mama. She’s holding my hand tight, and I ask her if we can go to the candy store but she says no. She always says no. Two big men in green walk by us and start saying things to Mama. They’re saying mean things, I can tell. Mama doesn’t like them. She looks scared. I don’t like it, I start to cry. One of the big men laughs at me. I don’t like him. Mama squeezes my hand hard and pulls me down the street. The big men yell at Mama as we walk away.
**
Mama tells me we’re moving. I tell her I don’t want to move, and she says she doesn’t want to either. I ask her why we have to move then, and she just says that we have to. I ask Ezra why we have to move and he says because the green men told us to. I ask him why we have to listen to the green men and he says they’re like the police now.
**
Our new house is crowded. It only has two small rooms. Our old house had a lot of rooms, and I had my own room. I tell Mama I want my own room again but she says we all have to share now. Mama, Papa, Ezra and me all have to sleep in the same room. Ezra and I have to share a bed, too. Ezra moves and kicks a lot when he sleeps. I want to go back to our old house.
**
Our new neighborhood is really big, and really crowded. There are a lot of people out in the streets and a lot of other little kids. I want to go out to play with them, but Mama makes me stay inside. Papa doesn’t go to work. We all sit inside the house all day long. Ezra and me make up games, but Mama and Papa just sit there and talk to each other. Mama leaves the house sometimes and comes back with food. Only, it’s bad food, and she never gives me enough. I tell her I’m still hungry but she says there isn’t any more.
**
Green men come to our door, and Mama says we’re leaving the house. I’m happy, because I don’t like it here. We walk through the neighborhood, and there are a lot of other people walking with us. Mama holds my hand tight, and she holds Ezra’s hand too. She says we’re going to the train, which is good because I like trains. We walk out of the neighborhood, through big walls. I didn’t know our neighborhood had walls.
**
The green men lead us to the train. Everybody walks inside the train, only this train doesn’t have seats. More and more people walk inside the train, and I’m squished against people I don’t know. I can’t see Mama or Papa or Ezra anywhere, all I can see are the pants of a big fat man that are right against my face. I start to cry. Mama squeezes my hand. I forgot I was holding Mama’s hand. She pulls me to her, and I hug her leg and cry. I hear other kids crying too, and even grownups crying. And lots of grownups talking. Everyone is talking or screaming or crying. Then the train starts to move, and everybody cries louder. I cry too, and I squeeze Mama’s leg. Mama picks me up and hands me to Papa, and Papa puts me on top of his shoulders. I like it better up here. I can breathe better, and I can see the tops of all the grownups’ heads. I’m bigger than all the grownups up here.
**
The train is still going. Mama is holding me in her arms now. We’ve been in the train forever. The train is really hot, and I can’t breathe good. I’m hungry too, and thirsty. I tell Mama I’m hungry and she says she knows. I tell her I’m hungry again and she says everything will be okay. But it is not okay because I can’t breathe good and I’m hungry and I’m thirsty and I’m tired too and I want to go home. I want to tell Mama this but I’m too tired to talk. Nobody is screaming or crying now.
**
Mama yells at me. She says I have to wake up and she says the train has stopped. I didn’t know I was sleeping. I want to get off the train now. I look down and I see people on the ground. I ask Mama why they are on the ground and she says that they are sleeping. There is a girl on the ground sleeping with her eyes open. I didn’t know people could sleep with their eyes open. Her chest isn’t moving up and down like Papa’s does when he sleeps. I tell Mama I want to sleep on the ground now too but she says I’m not allowed to sleep on the ground. It isn’t fair, because the girl gets to.
**
We get off the train. There are big red buildings everywhere. Everyone walks slow like they are tired. Mama tells me I have to walk on my own now but she holds my hand. I look back in the train and the sleeping people are still on the ground. I tug on Mama’s hand to show her but she won’t listen. The green men are shouting things at us. They make us get into lines. They tell Papa to go in one line and they tell me and Mama and Ezra to go in the other. Mama and Papa are screaming. They want to go in the same line, but the green men won’t let them. A green man weaves his gun and says something mean. Mama and Papa stop screaming and me and Mama and Ezra go back to our line. Papa looks at me sad from the other line and he says something, only I can’t hear him. I don’t like the green men.
**
We all wait in line. Me and Ezra are holding both of Mama’s hands again. Mama is crying a little and so are other people. I don’t like this place. I want to go home. I ask Mama where we’re going and she says we’re going to take a shower. I don’t like showers but right now I don’t care because I feel sticky and I want to feel clean again. Way in front of us there is a building with big chimneys with big smoke coming out from them. Mama’s acting quiet, so I ask Ezra all quiet what the smoke is from. He says it’s from a fire, just like how we used to have fires at home. I ask him where we’re going and he just says to take a shower, but I knew that.
**
We almost get to take our shower now. The line is really long. We are inside a building now, and the green men still yell stuff at us. The green men tell us to all take off our clothes for the shower. The grownups don’t want to take off their clothes in front of the other grownups, but the green men yell loud and point their guns. Mama helps me and Ezra take off our clothes. She keeps kissing me and telling me it’s gonna be okay, but I’m tired of being here and I want to go home.
**
Everybody is naked now. I’ve never seen Mama or Ezra naked before. I’m ready to take the shower and be clean again. We have to wait until the last people are finished taking their shower, the green men say. There are big gray doors. Finally the big gray doors open and we get to go in to take the shower. But once we get in it’s really crowded, just like the train, and I don’t like it. People are talking and screaming and crying. I start to cry again and grab on to Mama, and then the big gray doors close.
This is a great way to show the effect of societal changes on the individual without overdoing it.
