Arms hanging loosely on both

slumped, arms hanging loosely on both sides Of hm’ the man with th Lon Nol uniform in his bag does not fight as another Khmer Rang: soldier points and pushes him away with the butt of his rifle,  After many hours, it is f1nal1Y our time to b: quuCI51t1r‘1’(:‘ed- I can te We’Ve been standing here a long time because t 1:; Rw warms y lower back instead of the top Of my head‘ AS 3 rlnlr Ouge soldier aPPr0aches us, my stomach twists into Ugh: knot‘: fem $103" to Pa and reach up for his hand. Pa’s hand is much too 1g Of mine» 50 I am only 3516 to wrap my fingers around his index finger.  «What do you do?” the soltfilier curtlIy0:stl:s Pa.  “ acker in the S 1PPmg '  “1\V“;i:tk<:la(: :21 do?” The soldier point? hi5,fi”ge‘ 3‘ M“'_H°f eyes focus on the ground, and she shifts Geaks weight on her hips. ‘I sell old clothes in the market,” she S3Y5 in 3 barely audible Vow:  The soldier rummages through all 0111' bags One by 011°-Then he bends down and lifts the lid of the rice pot next to Pa’s feet. Gripping Pa’s finger even tighter, my heart races as the soldier checks the pot. His face is close to mine; I Concenmte 0“ ml’ dirty toes’ I dare n°t1°°k into his eyes, for I have been told that when you look into their eyes, you can see the devil himself.  “All right, you are cleared.You may go.”  “Thank you, comrade,” Pa says meekly, his head bobbing up and down to the soldier. The soldier is already looking past Pa and merely waves his hand for us to hurry on. Passing the checkpoint safely, we walk a few hours more until the sun goes to sleep behind the moun- tains and the world becomes a place of shadows and shapes once again, In the mass of people, Pa finds us a spot of unoccupied grass near the  side of the road. Ma puts Geak down next to me and tells me to keep  an eye on her. Sitting next to her, I am struck by how pale she looks. Breathing quietly,  She fights to keel’ her eyelids open, but in the end She loses and falls to sleep. Her growling stomach talks as mine grumbles in 


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