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Mary was lying in bed, in the dark, running her hands over her belly, feeling the fat there Thinking, just a few

, maybe And then she’d be there Wherever “there” was

The water bottle beside her bed was empty Mary climbed wearily froht For a nize, someone with sunken cheeks and hollow eyes

Then sudden, total darkness

In the baseloomy space kids called the hospital, Dahra Baidoo held Josh’s hand

He wouldn’t stop crying

They’d brought him from the battle at the power plant One of Edilio’s soldiers had dropped him off

“I wantback and forth, deaf to any words Dahra had, lost and ashamed

“I want my mom,” he cried

“I just want my mom”

“I’ll put on a DVD,” Dahra said She had no other solution She’d seen kids like this before, too many to keep track of Sometimes it was all just too much for some kids They broke, like a stick bent too far Snapped

Dahra wondered how long it would be before she was one of them

How long until she was holding herself and rocking and weeping for her mother?

Suddenly, the lights went out

“I want my mom,” Josh wept in the dark