The Great Depression: A Short Story

I thought it was a regular day, having no idea that my family would be falling into the slump of the Great Depression. As I walked home after school with my older brother James, I thought about a test I had the next day. But all my thoughts were torn apart as I walked through our front door. I saw my Mama sitting on the couch crying. James and I dropped our bags and went to see what was wrong. She explained to us that she had lost her job at the market because the store couldn’t sell their goods. The store had to shut down so everyone lost their jobs. A little later, my Papa arrived home and went to talk to my mama alone. I overheard them arguing about how we need that money because the farm’s business is slowing down.
I was upstairs reading …show more content…
As Maria and I rushed out of building Mr. Holt told us to wait in the grass far from the building. As I looked up at the building I saw smoke and fire pouring out of it. Maria started to pull me over to the grass but I would move. I told her I had to wait for James and make sure he was okay. As all of the girls made it out, a sudden swarm of boys came running out with ashes covering their faces. One of the boys went up to Mr. Holt and told him what happened. One of the boys lit a match and didn’t put it out all the way but no one noticed it until it started a fire in the trash can. Mr. Holt ran into the building help the rest of the boys get out. I ran up to a boy and asked him if he knew which floor my brother was on and he said the fourth floor. I panicked and went to tell Maria. Maria assured me that James was fine but I need to see for myself. I impatiently watched all the other boys come out. Mr. Holt came out of the building and asked if anyone was missing. This made me really worried. Why did we have to work in this factory anyways, I thought our parents were supposed to make the money until we got older. Looking back I had no idea that this was really just child labor during the Great