Ariana sat by herself at the lunch table and watched the other kids laughing and having fun. She wished she could join them, but thoughts of her father and war crowded her mind.
Ariana and her mother Parisa were forced to flee their home when the Taliban overran their village. The soldiers took her father into the fields and shot him. After fleeing to Kabul, Ariana's mother was able to get a job at the big American military base.
For a while, life was good and Ariana was even able to go to school, but it wasn't long before the Taliban came down from the hills and the Americans began to leave. During the frenzy of the evacuation, Parisa was able to find a spot for herself and her daughter on one of the departing planes.
After a stop in Germany, Ariana and her mother were granted refugee status in the United States. Their new home was a small village in the state of Kansas. Ariana was in awe of the endless fields of corn and wheat. There was never so much food back in Afghanistan. Parisa found a job in housekeeping at the local hospital and Ariana was enrolled at the local high school.
Ariana was unprepared for the hostile glances and whispered comments from the other students. She tried to be friendly, but it seemed as if everyone hated her. Lunch time was the worst, Ariana sat alone while the other kids chatted and laughed together.
Ariana tried to talk to her mother, but Parisa was usually tired from work and went to bed soon after dinner. After several more weeks of eating lunch alone, a girl with red hair and braces asked if she could join her and Ariana was surprised to learn that she had made a friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment