Rise Chapter 1

My name is Sparrow and this is my story of how I was able to rise and survive.

I walk through the streets my hands into fists I'm clutching a pointy stick as a weapon. I scrounge the ruins for food. Anything for my mama and baby brother. I find nothing after looking for over an hour. I walk to some of the stores still intact. I go behind them and look at the top of the dumpster. I find several potatoes and a tomato. They're still fresh just a little warm I run home with three potatoes and a tomato this is the best meal I've found in weeks. I run home to our tent. My brother Haw is wailing and my mother is trying to soothe him. She had brown skin, black dirty hair, and sunken eyes, we all do. "Mama I found three potatoes! And a tomato!" I breathe. "Wonderful Sparrow We will eat tonight because of my beautiful girl," says mama hugging me. We eat the tomato and a potato it's a feast. Haw gets half a potato that I squeeze and smash it in my hands, he's just over one and can't eat much. I have the other potato half. Mama has the tomato. The other potatoes I put in the sack that we have our food for the trip. We're escaping Syria in five days my papa was killed by a bomb he was buried alive under rubble he saves people by protecting them with his body. He is forever known as a hero. it earns mama sympathy and people often would try to give us food they had. Mama always refused if anything she gave people on the verge of death food. We hope to someday live in America where we can be safe have a home and plenty of food. That is why we're making the journey no matter how long it will take. "Mama? When will we leave?" I ask again I like hearing her voice. "Five days Sparrow you know that," says Mama. "I forget mama that days seem so long I don't want to wait five whole days. The sooner we move the sooner we can get to America," I say jumping up. "I know Sparrow but it's safer to travel in numbers. How about you go with Amir to find food we will need more the trip is long," says mama. "Ok mama," I say and run out to find Amir. He's leaving with us. "Amir!" I call when I see him I trip on a sharp rock and trip and knock him over. "Ow! My foot hurts," I say. Amir laughs. I try to hit him but he's twelve four years older than me I'm only eight and much smaller than him. "What?" I ask. "You bragged yesterday that you had iron feet and no rock would hurt your foot but a rock that's not even pointy hurts," he says. "Humf," I huff. "Mama told me to find food," I say. "She did? I'll help you carry it all," Amir says. For the rest of the day, we look for food and find a lot. Five potatoes, two tomatoes, an apple and a fig. I devour the fig, I love them. When mama sees she's so happy, she cuts up the tomatoes and gives them to two families who have no food. "Mama? How much food do we have in the sack?" I ask. "Enough to get us to the camp where they will have good food," says mama.
        Five days later we're walking to the camp with many other people. Back then I didn't know how many but I was going with a hundred other people. For me, it is an adventure Amir knows otherwise but plays along with me so I don't get scared. Mama covered my eyes many times to him dead bodies from me and other gruesome things.
      After 65 days we reach the refugee camp it was very long and we had only half the food we needed. We stay at the camp for several months while we wait to get taken to America for the relocation program. When we are taken to a small town in Indiana where we stay on a golf course. The house was small but to my eight-year-old self, it was a palace. We had a TV, a kitchen two bedrooms with BEDS! I was so happy it was luxurious. We had also gotten some clothes from the people who had helped us. I got three pairs of pants three shirts a coat for winter shoes, 5 pairs socks and underwear and one dress that I had gotten I had my old worn dress that I really likes I wasn't used to pants I had always worn dearies mama made when I asked why she said they where easy to make. That Monday I went to school for the first time since I was five. I knew numbers and how to write my names but nothing else really. I was entered in fourth grade. Mama walked me to school the first day it was three miles away but we made it in time. "Bye, mama! I'll see you later!" I say hugging mama who had new clothes on and was clean with her hair in her bun mama had braided my hair in two for the first day of school. It was October so I was a little late to school. When I got to my class I had to introduce myself. "Hi! I'm Sparrow. Nice. To. Meet. You" I said in my broken English. I had easier work because I had only ever been in until second grade. I had to learn English after school so I could talk to people. After school, I saw mama and Haw waiting for me. "How was your first day?" she asked me. "Good! they have swings and slides and monkey bars and the playground is so fun! And lunch was really good," I say in Arabic. "It sounds very fun, now come, Sparrow, we need to get home," says mama taking my hand. "Ok mama," I say.
       Over the next few weeks, mama got a job and I learned more and more English. One day the teacher asked why I walked home and how far it was from school. "Only three miles," I say. "Three miles? Why don't you take the bus?" the teacher asked. "Why? It's three miles not very far I can walk," I say. "You must take the bus," says my teacher. I tell mama and she says that I can take the bus to the next morning I take the bus it scares me I've always walked except for when I came to America. On the bus, I think of how Amir would love this how we could talk and joke and have fun living our dream. I tell Haw every night our dream. "One day we will be in America where everyone is happy where we will have amazing food where we will live in a real house and mama will grow vegetables where we will eat so much out tummies will look like a=baloons," I say poking hid tummy he laughs. In school the next day in school were told to write down our dream and read it to the class. When I read mine some kids laugh. "That's not a dream a dream is to fly or to have a million dollars," calls a kid. "Stop that I think it was wonderful and it brings us to our next topic. the American Dream. This is when someone thinks of all the things they would like in America," says the teacher. At home my mom is asleep she works now only part time because of Haw but she still is really tires we all have low energy and not much strenth. "Mama?" I say. "Yes Sparrow?" says mama. "I'm home look! my teacher gave me and A on our dream," I say showing her the paper. "Wonderful my Sparrow," says mama before falling back asleep.