Sandstone

"Go away." Sarai  buried her nose in her book, "I'm not going to talk to you. So leave, now."1

"Please Ms. Shanto, I just want to ask you a question, you know, about the other night..." the reporter asked, looking pleadingly at her, "Please, this story could make my career! I need you to talk to me!!!"2

"No! So get out of here, or I'll call the coppers on you!" She glared at him until he backed away and left the little bookstore she owned. The thought of what happened that night still made Sarai want to puke. 3

"What happened isn't exactly his fault," Kari, her daughter, scolded, "you didn't have to be so spikey!"4

Sarai sighed, and looked out the window. She loved her life, she wanted nothing more than safety and warmth. The little bookstore she owned showed her love for both, it was tiny, and filled to the brim with books. No one "unclean" would ever step foot in it, "unclean" was her word for street people. Even the ones who didn't live on the streets made her nervous. Bugs made her jump, and an open window was cause for alarm,and god forbid ANYONE should ask her for spare change, talking to stangers made her balk. Kari, her daughter, was the exact opposite, the only thing they had in common was their love for books, but even then they read completely different generes. Kari longed for adventure, what had happened that night was more her kind of thing than Sarai's.5

"Mom, what exactly did happen when you went outside? What as it like, did you see any, "unclean" ones?" Kari asked, emphasizing the word unclean, her mom's hate for anyone who was even remotely exciting made Kari laugh, and she teased her mom nonstop for it. She wished it had been her who left the city limits. She was tired of The Dustbowl, as she and her friends doubed the city in which they lived. When her mom was found two nights ago, a mile from the natural walls that surrounded the city, everyone was excited. No one had left the city for over 50 years. her mother refused to say hw she got out, or what happened, but it was clear to Kari that she hadn't gone by choice, her mom was afraid of birds!! "So, will you tell me, PLEASE??????????????"6

"No, I won't, and that's final" her mom looked at Kari, who had a carefully innocent expression on her face,Kari meant trouble, just what Sarai had spent all her life trying to avoid. Saria sighed, "Get on with you, go hang out with those so-called friends of yours, and don't talk to strangers, and..."7

Kari ran out the door before her mom could finish her hour long speech on safety.8

Later That Day9

"I cannot STAND my mother, I swear she is out to ruin my life!!!" Kari jumped off the roof and onto the dumpster below, beconing for her friends to follow. As they jumped down, Rois, who was obviously trying hard not to laugh said, 10

"Thas what you say everyday, every time we see you, do you EVER talk about anything else? Hey, Jamad, don't push, it aint nice," she said, as a short black boy with long dreds pushed her off the roof, "as I was saying, all u ever do is complain!" she said, giving Kari a shove 11

and laughing as Jamad came up behind them and burped loudly.12

"Cut it out you guys, I do more than complian, I, hmmm, what do I do?" Kari looked at them skepticly as the rest of her posse jumped down off the roof.13

"Oooh, ooooooooooh, I know, you, um, hmm, wait,  actualy, all you ever do IS complain. But, hey, you I'll be nice, and let you stay, hehe." said Oreo while inspecting his jeans for signs of tear, finding a rip, he said "Damn, these jeans..." but the rest of his sentence was cut off by the shriek of Kari's mother as she ran down the alleyway, shouting for Kari to run away from these, "unclean ones".14

"Kari honey, areyou ok, did they hurt you?" Sarai asked, looking over Kari, finding no signs of harm, she glared at the group of people standing in the alley, some were trying hard not to laugh, while others were looking sheepishly down at their shoes.15