The Syrian-Americans
“When I was in second grade, our school got attacked by a bomb. It was a barrel full of explosions. We were just opening our books to start the class and it’s hard to describe the sound but it was like a building coming apart. I ran to the other class to find my brother and he was crying because of the sound. Our bus left so we didn’t know what to do. But my brother is so smart. He ran to the market and called our grandma.“
“I was at home when the telephone rang. It was my mother. She told me that there had been a bomb at the boys’ school. I immediately tried to call the school but nobody answered. Then I tried to call the bus driver but he didn’t answer either. I imagined the worst. The roads were closed so I couldn’t get to the school. All I could do was pace around the house. Finally the bus driver answered the phone and said that everyone was alive. The bomb had landed on the playground and only destroyed one wall of the school. After several hours the roads were reopened, and they came back home. When I hugged them it felt like the whole world was in my hands.”
“We are going to a place called Clearwater, Florida. I don’t know a lot about it. I saw Florida on the television and it looks like it’s close to the sea and has a lot of plants. My dad says the people are friendly and there are a lot of friendly kids there. I really hope that we can have a small farm and a horse when we get there because my grandmother really loves animals. I’d like it to be a square farm with lots of flowers and rabbits. I also hope there is a good tree in Florida because I’d like to build a tree house where we can have some adventures.”