All the Wild Children Read Online Free PDF

fingers and shake. 
    I don’t sleep much that night.  I lay in bed worrying.  What if I can’t keep my sister safe?  Who will keep me safe?  It’s all falling apart.  Does Ragnarok hurt? 
     
    Escondido grammar school and I don’t get along very well.  That is an understatement.
    I am holding Shaun’s hand as we walk onto the cement play yard.  The kids can tell we are different.  Like dogs they can smell we aren’t of their pack.  We are the other they were bred to fear.
    “There you are honey, I was looking for you.  I’m Miss Franklin.”  The woman takes Shaun’s hand.  Pulling.  Shaun looks at me.  Shaun holds tight to my hand.  “Now come on, first graders on the left, say goodbye to your brother, he has to get to his class.”  Shaun’s hand slips out of mine and she is swallowed up in the mass of children.  I catch a glimpse of her eyes through the crowd. 
    I hate it here.
    I sit in an uncomfortable desk, in a row of other uncomfortable desks.  Ticki tacky little boxes.  This is what the song was about.  They start the morning by all standing up like little robots and face the flag. 
    I don’t stand up. 
    "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."  They chant in unison.  I keep silent.  At 10:30 a bell rings, they call it a bell.  I’ve heard a bell.  This is more like a klaxon.  The klaxon has the kids on their feet and heading out for recess. 
    I want to get to the playground.  I want to find Shaun. 
    Mrs. Harris corners me at the door, “Josh, I know you’re new, so I will let it go today.  But we all rise and say the pledge of allegiance.  I know you love America.” 
    “Um, OK.”  I rush out the door.  Moving through the mass of kickball players, hopscotchers, tether ballers, and millers, finally I spot my little sister.  She’s sitting on the cement.  She is talking to no one.  She is staring at the ground.
    I start to run toward her, I trip over a kid playing catch.
    “Hey watch it, spaz.” 
    I pull myself up and keep going. 
    The playground is divided by two thick yellow stripes.  On one side is the bigger kids.  My side.  On the other is the kindergartners and first graders.  Between the two is a five or six foot strip of no man’s land.  I am running full tilt as I cross the line.  I am within feet of reaching Shaun when a floral print dress blocks my path.  Hands reach down grabbing my shoulders.  Holding me back. 
    Miss Franklin tries to look friendly.  She fails.  “Hold on young man, you’re on the wrong side of the age line.”
    “But my sister... I need... ”  My face is turning red.
    “You’re sister is fine.  Now go on.”
    “She’s not fine.”  Miss Franklin shakes me firmly.  “Let go fucker.”
    I did not make it to Shaun.  I failed.  I do make it t o vice-principa l Davison’s office.  For the first of five visits that week.  He is actually not a bad man.  He listens to me.  He says he understands how I feel about my sister.
    “You want to go take a peek in on her before you go back to class?” 
    From outside he and I look in on Shaun’s classroom.  She is talking to another little girl.  She is smiling.  She is safe.
    8:35 the next morning I am sitting outsid e vice-principa l Davison’s office.  I had refused to say the pledge of allegiance so here I am.
    “Alright Josh, what do we have this time?”  Mr. Davison looks at the note I brought from my teacher.  “You won’t stand and pledge allegiance to America?”
    “Nope.”
    “Are you a Communist?”
    “No, I think we’re Quakers.”
    “Don’t you love your country?”
    “No.”
    “Why would you say that?”  Now he’s starting to get concerned.
    “It’s a mean country.  It hurts people.  Kills people.”
    “I’m sure that’s what your parents tell you, but it does good things