I shivered in the late afternoon chill. In only a few hours the air had grown colder.
Every night I spend hours sitting on the bay window with the cool breeze entering and exiting my lungs. I just sit there thinking about how life would be to live in fear every moment of every day. That's how the others live. My chest tightens every time I think of what they must go through.
"Brooklyn," my mother called with a slight annoyance in her voice. "Why don't you come down and help me set the table?"
As I walk down the cold cement stairs in the middle of our house I smell the same thing I smelt last night, the night before that, and every night since I was born. We eat the same meal every night, with the same portions. I see the plain chicken breast, spoonful of peas, and a slice of brown bread neatly placed on each plate, ready to be set on the table. I grab each plate and gently set it down in each place setting.
"So did you finish writing your essay for English?" My mother asked hoping for the right answer.
"I did." I said plainly because there was no reason to continue.
"What did you choose to wright about? I know Amber next door wrought about how we should get to eat a different meal each night. I don't see her persuading Mayor Daily though." I could see the astonishment on her face hoping for a surprise, and I gave her one.
"I wrought it on the others and how I frankly believe that they should be given a fair chance. I know they are not the most welcoming people but maybe that's because we aren't either. If we give them that chance we could live a peaceful life joined together, working together." I realized there was no need to continue after the first sentence once I saw my father looking up from the dusty newspaper.
"Slow down there Brooke, we understand your point of view but there is no way of changing the past only the future. We can't go back and be more welcoming to them when they first arrived but we can be mindful in the future." Sometimes I think my father is foolishly wrong, but right now at this moment he is utterly right.