My City Clothes

                                    

                                          
I lied upon my straw-like bed, gazing upon the night sky as the stars winked to me.
The day had just ended, and my mind wandered to those fond memories of the day -where I would help my mom cook and spend the day making straw like dolls for my friends and I to play with. My lightly dusted dress brushed on the bed.
But I was just really lucky. To be born in a loving family and a close-knitted village. To be Nara Queto, in the village, and feeling free.
I grinned and closed my eyes happily.
There was nothing that had to be changed. Everything was perfect.
#
My head jerked up. Yelling and screaming flooded my ears. Why were they yelling?
"Nara, run!" A familiar voice cried. It was Papa!
I glanced around, looking for Papa. Orange, hot arms crawled and spread through the village, flames reaching out to eat whatever was in their sight.
A wildfire, I thought. There had been many here before, but not as deadly as this one.
My feet dashed for an exit from the blaze.
"Papa!" I screamed. "Papa, where are you?!"
Tears seeped out my eyes and I dashed, houses racing like a blur behind me. I ran, knowing that everything I loved was going to be left behind in ashes.
"Papa!"
#
My eyes were in disbelief. My mom and I clutched onto Papa, standing with the rest of the village people as we watched the wildfire burn and eat everything in sight. The dolls, the crops, the village, they were all gone.
And there was nothing that could be done.
"Ma, " I tugged at her. "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know," she replied and gave Papa and I a worried glance. "But we will find something."
Smoke trailed our noses and the fire slowly faded, leaving behind nothing but ash.
"Like?"
"A new home. We can't live here anymore, that's certain."
A new home? I couldn't bear the thought. How could we just abandon this village -the one that we've lived for years- and desert it all behind? For this new building?
No. We might move into a new building, but this village will remain as my home.
"Nara?" Papa shot a concerned look. "You alright?"
I traded a blank smile in return.
"Yep. Let's find our new home."
#
"Ma, what is this place?" We wandered the tall, intimidating buildings that looked down with their glass eyes. Sunlight hit the smooth, gray, and long rock that we walked upon, but it wasn't so green like it was back at our village. This place had such a gray color, like the place never smiled. Strange, moving things littered the place and honked. Pale buildings and scattered plastic, yet so many people crowded this flavorless stranger.
"This is the city," she replied and pointed to a washed out blue building. "And that's  our home."
My eyes didn't roll, but in my heart's eyes, it surely rolled hard.
"That's  where we'll live?"
Ma nodded.
"And where's Papa?"