H I S TO R I C A L F I C T I O N
ARE YOU A JEW? By: Melanie Horvath,
5th grade, Pine Knob Elementary, Clarkston
N
azi soldiers line the wide uneven streets of Copenhagen. My small Star of David doesn’t show under my cupped hand. “This is the only way home,” I remind my 13year-old self. My thick black curly hair
is forced into a loosely drawn braid. My brown eyes are tinged with fear. Tall black boots click on the cobblestone pavement. Taunts echo through my head. The teenage Nazi kicks me in the dirt of the alley way. The sun now hardly shows between the narrow buildings. I gaze around. Trash of old newspapers is the only thing to see in the half empty trash bins. I look up and see the shiny metallic gun pointed right at me. Tears are swelling my eyes. My heart lurches as the soldier sneers loudly, “Are you a jew?” The question pounds in my head. The first words I can think of spring out cautiously. “I’m different,” I agree, nodding my head slowly. The gun clicks as he growls, “Jew or not? Answer now!” I gulp and try to see the sun up above in the old building. “ Isn’t everyone different in some
way?” I say, tears springing out like a wound up wind-up toy. Before he can say another thing, I blurt, “Like the way you have a scar underneath your bottom lip!” Immediately, his hand shoots up to the tiny scar that is marking his difference. He looks angered. Trying to be as calm as I can, I add, “It’s fine. Different is normal. So what if you have a scar? That’s normal! So what if I am a jew? That’s normal!” I finish by opening my hand and revealing my star. There is an ackward moment, filled with silence. I can tell he feels uncomfortable, but there is something else deep inside. I see the boy’s eyes started watering, as he is fighting this unknown to me internal battle. Then he looks straight at me. I freeze preparing for the worst. “Different is normal,” he finally says before turning around and walking away.
REALISTIC FICTION
Good Lesson By: Aashka Bansal, 5th grade, Deerfield Elementary,
O
Rochester Hills
nce there was an 11 year old girl named Swati. She had a severe face deformity, but she thought of herself as normal. Coming back to Michigan from her trip to India, she had to wait for her connecting flight in Paris, France, where she had an 11-hour layover. She slept, read, and watch TV in the airport until she finally got in line for her plane to the United States. In line, there was a person who kept staring at Swati. First, it made her feel uncomfortable. Swati had no clue why this person had been staring at her,
MARCH 2017
but then she was getting upset. Over her shoulder, Swati was looking at the person’s expressions and saw that he was whispering to a girl behind him, and then they both started laughing. Swati felt hurt and lost. There was a woman behind the girl. She turned to the laughing couple and said in a quiet whisper, “You shouldn’t be making fun and laughing at the little girl. There is nothing to notice.” The two other people felt ashamed. They turned to Swati and said that they were sorry. They learned from the woman that acting rude or mean to a person who is different is not right. Everyone should be treated equally. 9
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