1 Prologue

When I Was Eight, My Life Changed Forever.

I know that there are people who wonder about me when I say this. They look at me strangely as if trying to fathom what could have happened back then , though I seldom bother to explain. Because I've lived here for more most of my life , I don't feel that I have to unless it's on my terms , and that would take more time then most people are willing to give.

My story can't be summed up in two or three sentences ; it can't be packadged into something neat and simple that people still living here who knew me that year accept my lack of explaination without question. My story in some ways is their story because it was something that all of us lived through.

I Was I , However , Who Was Closet To It.

I'm eighteen years old, but even now I can remember everything from that year , down to the smallest details. I relive that year often in my mind , bringing it back to life , and I realize that when I do , I always feel a strange combination of sadness and joy.

There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but I have the felling that if I did , the joy would be gone as well. So I take the memories as they come , accepting them all , letting them guide me whenever I can. This happens more often then I let on. I close my eyes and the year begin to move in reverse, slowly ticking backward , like the hands of a clock rotating in the wrong direction.

As if through someone else's eyes , I watch myself grow younger. I've learned with age grow dimmer , and my innocence returns as that eventful year approaches. Then , like me , the world begins to change : roads narrow and some become gravel , downtown streets teem with people. Men wear hats , women wear dresses. I open my eyes and pause. I am standing outside the large school building and when I stare at the ground I know exactly who I am.

My name is ASMA AMIR , and I'm eighteen years old.

This is my story , I promised to leave nothing out.

First you will smile , and then you will cry _________

don't say u haven't been warned.