One: The Great Divide
Rebecca bolted upright in the morning chill, her heart pounding furiously in her chest. She lay breathless and a little dazed, having no idea where she was. Gradually, as the haze lifted and her pulse slowed, she rolled over and propped herself up on an elbow and was relieved to see her mother standing by her bed. "I dreamt I saw flames pouring out of chimneys and soaring into the sky again." As she wiped the sleep out of her eyes, she noticed her mother was placing items into a floral satchel. "What are you doing, Momma?" "I 'm packing some of your things, darling." Her mother vaguely mumbled over her slender shoulder, "You 're going to stay with Miss Muller for a short time." She persisted and placed another item …show more content…
The long ride was cramped, and the children felt restless. When they finally arrived at Miss Muller 's Anna grabbed their floral satchel off the seat and took hold of her brother 's hand. Together the two trudged off through the crunchy grass towards a hushed tenement building. Once they had reached number seventeen and stood on the steps the squeaky screen door twanged open. And Miss Muller a short stout woman with feathery white hair and extremely hard piercing grayish eyes stepped out with her rather hard mouth and warned, "You two had better straighten up! There will be none of that stuff here." She thanked the office for his time and trouble and spun around on her brown rubber soled shoes and stomped back into the house leaving the children standing …show more content…
She stooped down low and grabbed a towel, a bar of soap, and a small portable wash basin filled with warm water and handed the items to the children. Then she turned off the light and whispered, "You both need to wash up and eat your dinner. Good night. I 'll be back in the morning." "Good night Miss Margot." The children obediently replied. They slowly washed their faces and hands in the basin using the scented soap. And then Willy gobbled up his warm, delicious soup in the dark while Anna slowly sipped at hers. Before they went to sleep Anna fetched their satchel and searched for the stars which she had wrapped in little pieces of tissue paper and hidden in a side pocket of the bag. When she at last found them, she stuffed them under their thin mattress. Occasionally throughout the night she would pull out one of the stars and stare at it as the sparkling moonlight touched each of its six
Rebecca bolted upright in the morning chill, her heart pounding furiously in her chest. She lay breathless and a little dazed, having no idea where she was. Gradually, as the haze lifted and her pulse slowed, she rolled over and propped herself up on an elbow and was relieved to see her mother standing by her bed. "I dreamt I saw flames pouring out of chimneys and soaring into the sky again." As she wiped the sleep out of her eyes, she noticed her mother was placing items into a floral satchel. "What are you doing, Momma?" "I 'm packing some of your things, darling." Her mother vaguely mumbled over her slender shoulder, "You 're going to stay with Miss Muller for a short time." She persisted and placed another item …show more content…
The long ride was cramped, and the children felt restless. When they finally arrived at Miss Muller 's Anna grabbed their floral satchel off the seat and took hold of her brother 's hand. Together the two trudged off through the crunchy grass towards a hushed tenement building. Once they had reached number seventeen and stood on the steps the squeaky screen door twanged open. And Miss Muller a short stout woman with feathery white hair and extremely hard piercing grayish eyes stepped out with her rather hard mouth and warned, "You two had better straighten up! There will be none of that stuff here." She thanked the office for his time and trouble and spun around on her brown rubber soled shoes and stomped back into the house leaving the children standing …show more content…
She stooped down low and grabbed a towel, a bar of soap, and a small portable wash basin filled with warm water and handed the items to the children. Then she turned off the light and whispered, "You both need to wash up and eat your dinner. Good night. I 'll be back in the morning." "Good night Miss Margot." The children obediently replied. They slowly washed their faces and hands in the basin using the scented soap. And then Willy gobbled up his warm, delicious soup in the dark while Anna slowly sipped at hers. Before they went to sleep Anna fetched their satchel and searched for the stars which she had wrapped in little pieces of tissue paper and hidden in a side pocket of the bag. When she at last found them, she stuffed them under their thin mattress. Occasionally throughout the night she would pull out one of the stars and stare at it as the sparkling moonlight touched each of its six