I wake up in my dream and it’s a perfect day. No school, no teachers, and no homework. I wake up and I would have my own room. I wouldn’t have to share it with any of my annoying sisters or my brother.
In an ideal world, I would have a nice family breakfast and my parents would not have to rush over work or taking us to school. After that, I would call some friends over to go the movies.
We would not have to worry about how much money we have or what we could afford. We could relax while watching the movie.
Right after, we would walk out the door and ride our zebras home. In my ideal world, all the zoo animals would be free to walk around just like we do. They would also be able to go into the restaurant and order their own food. If anything bad happens, like a blackout, everyone would be nice enough to feed them and everyone would help each other out. In this ideal world, there would be no bullies, thieves, or drug dealers.
After a wonderful day, we could stay up, eat candy, and play as long as we want without our neighbors telling us to settle down.
When I go to sleep, I just wonder what’s going to happen the next day. I hope I will never have to wake up from this dream.
Touching the Clouds As I Go is a critical collection of reflections, poems, and stories from students in the Tuesday and Thursday Night Tutoring Program at 826LA in Echo Park. Throughout the fall, students incisively explored the question “What is Freedom?” Their responses strike both the mind and heart. In this book, you will find prose and poetry that is poignant, brave, and transformative. This collection also explores critical social justice issues and the challenges of unrestricted freedom. Finally, our students transport us into their personal lives and discuss how freedom–or it’s absence–conditions how they perceive, define, and navigate their worlds and dreams. We hope our young authors inspire, motivate, and fill you with hope.
Purchase the book here.
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