As Shar Heut sailed away from her country she was relieved to know that she was going to be safe. The boat was supposed to go to America, were her family and other Japanese families had been assigned to one family that were going to help them in America.
Shar was 14 when her family decided to go to America. Shar’s parents had talked about it, but never told the kids about it, finally they let the kids know. Everyone had been shocked by the news, even her 17 year old sister, who Shar thought was in on it. Shar’s first instinct was to be angry at her parents, but then she was happy that they got to leave.
“Why are we leaving?” was the first thing she asked when she found out.
Her mother replied” There is supposed to be a huge volcano eruption that will lead to fighting.”
“We are leaving for America in a few days.”, her father said.
Suddenly Shar heard two voices saying “ Shar, Shar, snap out of it, we are in America!”, Shar looked up to see Farel and Sarel (her brother and sister) looking down at her.
“What happened?’
“You were day dreaming for the whole day.” Sarel said” We are in America!”
As soon as Shar and her family got off the boat they were herded into a giant building. In the building they had to stand in line for hours so Doctors could look at them, and check for any sicknesses. As soon as Shar and her family were at the front of the line, two men came and checked their eyes and every other body parts.
As soon as they were done, Shar asked her Mom “ What was that for?”
To make sure we are healthy.” , was her mother’s response.
When Shar’s family left the building they were in a very crowded street. Shar’s father managed to get a taxi to go to their new house, luckily for the family the house was on a very quiet street. When they got to the house they unpacked everything, and everyone got their own room. The house was small but still cozy, and there were a few other houses on the street just like it.
A few weeks later the kids started school, and their Dad started a job. Shar’s Mother always stayed at home and kept the house clean, so if visitors ever came the house would be very clean.
At school Shar caught on to everything very quickly, and soon she was one of the smartest kids in the class. Sarel and Farel did not catch onto school as quickly as Shar did, but they still caught on eventually. Shar made many new friends at her school but Char will always be Shar’s best friend. Shar often played with her friends after school and they did their homework together.
Often Shar thought to herself “Why didn’t we have schools like these ones back in Japan?”
Shar often thought about Char, so she decided to write her a letter. This is what the letter said: “Hi, Char, How are you doing? Have the chaos from the volcano gone down yet?, I hope it has so we can come home to Japan. Here in America I am at a great school. I really wish you were here too though. Your friend, Shar.
For a few weeks Shar just sat around waiting for a response to the letter. Shar knew it would take a long time for the letter to get there and for the response letter to come, but still she waited. Eventually Shar got bored of sitting around so she completely forgot about the letter.
Shar’s Father had a very successful job so soon they got a bigger house, and they could afford all the books they needed for school. Shar’s father was a moving agent so he helped people from all countries to find places to live in America.
Farel and Sarel were doing okay but they were still struggling in a lot of places. Farel had decided that she would not do anything until they went back to Japan, so of course she did very badly. Farel and Sarel were still kind of getting used to America so they did pretty well.
Shar was surprised when a letter from Char came a few months ago, because she had forgotten all about the letter she had sent. Shar read the letter out loud to her family: “Hi, Shar! I am glad you’re doing so well, I am doing fine as well. I really miss you but that should be over soon! The chaos has died down and the government is trying to bring people, like you, back home! I hope to see you soon! Your friend Char.”
As soon as Shar finished reading everyone was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement, because they were going home.
On the boat home Shar could hardly stand the excitement of seeing Char again. Shar just hoped Char had stuck to her promise and came to the dock. As soon as the boat pulled in Shar immediately saw Char, and as soon as she was off the boat she ran into her best friends arms.