Beyond The Curtains

3

I jog over to the nicest girl I can find. She fought to get a box, but with politeness and manner. When someone pushed her aside she let them, even though she was still fighting for a box. Her hair is cornrowed with colorful beads tying off the braids. Her colorful clothes seem to resemble her colorful, although I don't know her, I can see the smile that appears onto her face.

"Great, another one! What do you want? Why do those stupid people put you here?" She exclaims sarcastically. So maybe she isn't the nicest person...Maybe she's just confused like I am. She could've come here the same time I did. I don't recognize her from my grade.

"Umm...Where am I?" I inquire, attempting to not upset her. I definitely misinterpreted her personality. She seems extremely annoyed, even though I'm walking on eggshells. At a fast pace, she walks, heading somewhere I don't know.

"Listen, I'm sorry you're here. But please ask someone else, I'd hate to break the news to you," She explains, furrowing a single eyebrow. "By the way, I'm Sara," She says grinning falsely. It seems as if she doesn't have any reasons to smile.

"Can you please help me Sara, I don't know what to do or where I am. Oh and uh, I'm Karin," I tell her, following her as she continues walking. I have to nearly jog to keep up with her. "But please! I beg of you, I need to know what's going on. Where am I? Why are all the other fourth graders here.

"Fine. But listen to me once as I will not say it again," I nod. "You are in your new neighborhood. All of your neighbors are fourth graders from this year or years past. Personally, I was born here. But most people just appear as if it's magic. You might be wondering why you're here. Well guess what? No one knows why they're here. It's a mystery, but don't worry, it's not too bad here. You'll be fine. Everyone here eventually comes to terms with fact that you are stuck here. I know it sounds like a lot now, but you'll get used to it. We get taken care of, we aren't starving, we have basic needs. We might grown up a little bit quicker than everyone else, but we still function," She says, trying to assure me that all is well, but I know that nothing is well. It's just so much to grasp.

"You said we are stuck here, what? Just for the day, right? Because I have to get back to my parents and my life. I should be in class right now," I exclaim, nearly having a panic attack. I take the deepest breath possible, I need to relax. This is probably part of the joke. This isn't real, not of it is. Who says my existence is even real? Wait, don't think that stupid mind, now I'm questioning my existence.

"No, you're stuck here forever, well of what we know, no one has ever been let out of here. Like I said, you'll get used to it. We have a nice little community, not everyone's happy, but we deal and so will you," Sara stops in front of one of the wooden houses. "This is my stop," She tells me, struggling to open the door because of the huge box she has been carrying. Non-verbally, I offer to open the door and open it, leading the way for Sara.

As I open the door for Sara, I peek into her open box and see the most boring thing that could be in a box. I find a bunch of necessities like toiletries, clothes, many water bottles, and what seems to a day's worth of food.

"Do you get those boxes everyday? It seems like a lot of work and violence," I ask, feeling concerned about everything. Why couldn't I just not be curious? My curiosity definitely got the best of me this time.

"Yeah, the same time everyday. It's not that bad, just a tiny bit of work, but you adapt. Of course I've been doing this my whole life...But you will surely get used to it. Everyone else here did." Everything seems so bland. The walls are dull wooden plank, the ground is just grass, no plants. I examine the setting. There are two bland beds with dull beige sheet and pillowcases.