We had tried to become accustomed to this new life, but never could. No one could. We would have more basic rights revoked and more privacy violated the longer we were in there. I’d look up at the sky and savor every aspect of it, from the colors to the shape of the clouds. It was comforting to me, as it was always there. They could take away our rights to travel or shorten our curfew, but they could never take away the sky and it’s myriad of colors. If there was one thing I wished they’d take away, it was school. Every aspect of it was repetitious and dull. We’d do the same math everyday and read the same book. I often found myself drawing in class, especially the sky. This would have gotten me in trouble, but the monotonous work came naturally to me. Soon, it was my birthday. The class sung lifelessly. Birthdays always left me pondering about my old life and Millie, before all of this. It was five years ago, but it seemed like it all happened within the past week. An urgent announcement by the teacher brought me back to reality. “You are to leave the school and immediately return home.” A wave of uneasiness struck the classroom, but we all obeyed the orders. I rushed home to find cattle cars lined up. I immediately had flashbacks from leaving to my old house. The sight of them still bothered me. That feeling was short lasting, however, as the thought occurred to me that maybe we would be returning! My mood quickly changed, and I sought out my parents. When I found them, they were weeping. “What’s wrong?” Their somber looks ruined my mood. “We are… going to a camp.” Everything around me seemed to freeze. I was convinced those were rumors. I wanted to ask what kind of camp, in hopes of it being something different, but it was no use. I knew what they were talking about, and I quietly packed my bags. Much like when we were leaving for the ghetto, we were awoken early and all
We had tried to become accustomed to this new life, but never could. No one could. We would have more basic rights revoked and more privacy violated the longer we were in there. I’d look up at the sky and savor every aspect of it, from the colors to the shape of the clouds. It was comforting to me, as it was always there. They could take away our rights to travel or shorten our curfew, but they could never take away the sky and it’s myriad of colors. If there was one thing I wished they’d take away, it was school. Every aspect of it was repetitious and dull. We’d do the same math everyday and read the same book. I often found myself drawing in class, especially the sky. This would have gotten me in trouble, but the monotonous work came naturally to me. Soon, it was my birthday. The class sung lifelessly. Birthdays always left me pondering about my old life and Millie, before all of this. It was five years ago, but it seemed like it all happened within the past week. An urgent announcement by the teacher brought me back to reality. “You are to leave the school and immediately return home.” A wave of uneasiness struck the classroom, but we all obeyed the orders. I rushed home to find cattle cars lined up. I immediately had flashbacks from leaving to my old house. The sight of them still bothered me. That feeling was short lasting, however, as the thought occurred to me that maybe we would be returning! My mood quickly changed, and I sought out my parents. When I found them, they were weeping. “What’s wrong?” Their somber looks ruined my mood. “We are… going to a camp.” Everything around me seemed to freeze. I was convinced those were rumors. I wanted to ask what kind of camp, in hopes of it being something different, but it was no use. I knew what they were talking about, and I quietly packed my bags. Much like when we were leaving for the ghetto, we were awoken early and all