Draft #1

       Today should have been just another day. I really should’ve. I know it should have. My mommy knows that too. But instead it wasn’t.

      I wish I were at home playing with my favorite stuffed tiger, or coloring with my brand new crayons.

      But here I am. In an itchy black dress, holding my mother’s hand.

     Mommy sniffles, and her eyes are all red. I already asked her if she was okay three times, but I asked her again, just in case. She told me the same thing every time, “I’m just a little sad, honey.”

     I had a brother. Well, I was supposed to. My mommy says that when he was born, he decided that he wanted to fly back up to heaven instead of stay here. I don’t understand why he would want to do that. What’s wrong with here? I love it here. I love everything about here. But he didn’t.

      So I stand here with my mommy, as we bow are heads over a big black box. I am wondering what is in the black box, but I don’t think I should ask.

      I play with my hair and hum songs and lay in my mommy’s lap. People talk and sing about life and losing people. We haven’t “lost” anyone. Everyone is here! I giggle, they are so silly. Finally after what seemed like forever, we leave.

     We are on the bus, and I am exited to go home and draw. I am telling my mommy about how exited I am, when a lady sitting next to me begins to speak. “You have a lovely daughter.” The lady pipes. I smile. “Thank you,” my mom says quietly.

     Then she smiles at me. “Is she your only child?” The lady continues. “My mom’s eyes get all red again. “Well,” she starts. “I had a boy. But he passed away.”

     The lady smiles and shakes her head. “Well then that doesn’t count.” My mother’s eyes began to water.

     “Ma’am,” my mother said softly, “my boy was a blessing. He was only a baby when he passed, but within the days he was alive I developed a love and joy for this child. He made me laugh, he made me cry. I even started to match which family members he looked like. And when he died-when…” my mom began to shake a little. “when he died, I was hurt. Even if he was only a couple days old, I still felt as sad as I would if he was old as me.IN the end,  it’s never about numbers. It’s about love. With that, mom picked me up and carried, me off the bus, even though it wasn’t our stop.

      I didn’t say anything. I didn’t think I should. Luckly I didn’t have to. My mom began to speak as we started to walk towards a playground nearby.

    “Honey, I love you so much. The last couple of weeks have been hard. But o promice it will get better. I will try to smile more. I will try to have more fun.

    I nodded. Mom took my hand, and with a smile as big as the moon, we ran into the playground.

Author's Note

Author’s Note

      This book is for all the little girls that silence themselves as a result of bullying. I believe we are all born with a need to speak. We worked so hard to learn these words as babies, why let them be taken away? My goal is to show you that the only person that gets in your way is yourself. You have to be stronger then them. So don’t silence yourself because of them. Let their slimy words slip away from you.

Synthesis Page

Chloe Ivey                                             812

How does this book help you to think about social issues you care about or causes you are committed to?

      In, The Selection by Kiera Cass, I noticed multiple things that were connected to social issues that I cared about. But there was one in particular that really stood out to me. In the book there were two groups of rebels that were constantly attacking the palace. The first one, the northerners would sneak in and raid shelves. Their motive was to change the government by giving the people evidence against them. The second group, southerners would come in and kill. They wanted to forcefully change the government though violence and destruction. The difference between these groups are major. They remind me of modern day mindsets. For example, some people get mad at the police in general when events like Eric Garner occur. They verbally attack the police, like how the southerners attacked the castle. When actually it isn’t the police’s fault. This book also shows how difficult it is to know something is wrong but there is nothing you can do about it. Today, with issues like self-harm, sickness, sexual harassment, starvations and much more you feel so small. You can read about feel sad, but that sometimes feels like that is all you can do.