Short Story

Mum and Sophia walk into the lounge room with their glasses of water, place them down on the table and sit down; Sophia pulls out her phone while her mum starts watching TV, Sophia’s phone goes off. Mum freezes and Sophia starts talking.

2. Selena and her brother don 't seem to be as bothered by the difficulties the father describes.  Why do they not share his feelings?

Malessica giggled taking a bite out of her pizza. Isaac continued to eat his slice of pizza, starting to think about the night before. Though he was in a crowded environment, he couldn’t help but shake the feeling that he wasn’t completely safe. Malessica noticed that Gerard had been taking a while to find them, taking out her cell phone. Calling Gerard’s phone, she heard it ring a few times before it went to voicemail. Something was completely off, which started to worry her somewhat. Isaac remained deep in thought, before hearing Malessica call his name.

A boy is dragged to the grocery store by his mom. Every aisle he passes he pulls something off the shelf and pleads to his mom, “Can I get this please, please, please, please?” Of course the mom says “no” and ignores the interests of her child. The boy becomes upset that her mom won’t let him get anything he wants and for the rest of the shopping trip, there is tension between the two. Similarly, in the passages Confetti Girl by Diana Lopez and Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes, both narrators are having conflict with their parents. Lina and her father don’t see eye to eye; likewise, Izzy and her mother don’t see eye to eye over a problem. In Confetti Girl and Tortilla Sun, both narrators’ conflicts create tension between themselves and their parents.

His alarm went off at 6 A.M., at which point he sprinted into his parents’ room to wake them up. They slowly climbed out of bed and walked downstairs with him. He was elated when he saw toys, games, candy, movies, and more. That’s why he couldn’t believe when his parents said there was still one gift waiting outside. He had more dreams of what could be out there; a pet dog, a flying car, you know, basic child things.

Mr. Pirzada comes to ten year old Lilia’s house to dine each night with her parents and to watch the news of the war between India and Pakistan. He left behind his wife and seven daughters in Pakistan to study in New England. Although Mr. Pirzada writes letters to his family each week, he had not heard from them in six months. When Mr. Pirzada arrives to Lilia house, she takes his coat and is rewarded with a candy. In the end, Mr. Pirzada flies back home and months later he sends a letter to Lilia’s family, thanking them for their hospitality and telling them that he was finally reunited with his family; who were safe. Therefore, Lilia is not forced to know about the events happening around the world, and went she tried to learn about Pakistan at school she was punished by her teacher.

In addition, the author helps the reader understand the selfishness of the mother when the reader finds out she have stole the Persian Carpet “several months before” (230) the divorce and puts the blame on Ilya, the poor blind man. Furthermore, the visit of the children is supposed to signal a fresh start for the family. The mother even emphasizes she wants the girls to come “live with [them]” (229). Yet again, even if they meet in order to reunite, characterized by a situational irony, they see themselves separated because of her mother selfish decisions.

In the second passage, a girl named Izzy is startled by some noises she hears in the kitchen, just to find her mother breaking a tile and making a mess. When Izzy asks what’s wrong, her mother responds to her, but then says that she has to continue her studies in Costa Rica and has to leave during the summer. Izzy is upset at this news because this means that she will be sent to stay with her grandmother for a few months and she feels that her grandmother is a stranger since Izzy hasn’t seen her in years. Izzy tries to resist and argue with her mother’s decisions, but tensions only rise as the argument

Lilia is upset that Mr.Pirzada could not come and most importantly does not get why he cannot come because he is just like her parents. This reveals that a child can be more open-minded than adults. Lilia’s father also is very upset when he finds out that they don’t learn about the Partition in school. But Lilia’s mother defends the school system by explaining, “We live here now, she was born here.” and that she “has plenty to learn” (26).

As the children ate breakfast Jarred was on the computer and Zoey was on Brandi’s phone playing a game. During this time the family sat silently until it was time for lunch. As Brandi got up to make lunch she told them she would be making chili. The children smiled and laughed excitingly at the idea of having it. Before Brandi went into the kitchen to make lunch she retrieved her phone from Zoey so she (Brandi) could listen to music as she prepared lunch. Zoey then asked if she could go and play with her cousins for a minute. Brandi told her that she was able to play but had to return when it was time to eat lunch.

As Permilia sat in the school house, she though about her father, which she never does often. Permilia's father past away just days after Permilia's birth. Permilia remembers her mother talking to her about how she had her father's eyes. She only wishes she could meet him. She walks out of school to see Chaitnya sitting on the ground. The other girls have there back to her. Permilia helps Chaitnya to her feet and they start walking home

and saw her mom and sister, in their own bikinis. Smiling, she placed a handful of sun screen on her legs and rubbed it in, she continued up to her chest, neck, and face. Offering her sister, the bottle. Taking off her bikini top, she laid face forward, so her sister could place some lotion on her back, and places where she could not reach.

When the men came to his new home to take him away to go to the best school in the world, his mother was in tears once more and this time it was his fault. She understood the reason why he would have to stay at the school. She had watched the video telling them all about his new school. It looked like a fun place, but he also knew he would miss his parents as much as they would miss him. He had to go to this special school so he could learn all he could so his mother would be able to have Riya. He knew why he had asked the men who had come to his new house to take him to the special school if he could speak with his parents alone before he left home. The men looked shocked and stepped away without complaint taking orders from a five year

The way the daughter tried to solve the conflict with her father shows that she can see her father’s view on the situation and can analyze the fact that her father is only protecting her. After reciting her speech to her father about how the students need to work to destroy the teachers, her father is appalled by what she had written about and tears apart the speech. In anger the calls him a ‘Chapita’ without remembering how he had lost friends and family to the dictator Trujillo. After throwing a fit she remembers how he was still afraid the regime back in the Dominican Republic would find him and his family and that he is only protecting her. The narrator and her mom are in her room later that night, “What we ended up doing that night was

No, he shouldn’t think like that. It wasn’t what she had or didn’t have, or anything he could put into thoughts or words. If only he knew what it was that made him do what he did. But then if you could explain away infatuation, the world would be a much simpler place, wouldn’t it?