Ch.1 Work

"Izayia you need to wake up." someone said while moving me.

I looked up it was my mother.

"What time is it?" I asked rubbing my eyes.

"It is 5:00 AM." she said standing up.

"But work doesn't start till 6." I said laying my head back down.

"Yesterday you were late for work! Now get up!" she yelled at me and walked away.

I got up right away and put away our blankets that where sprawled out on the ground.

"You can have an apple for breakfast." my mom called to me from the other end of the alley that we and other poor people slept in.

"Okay." I called back.

We rarely ever got to eat breakfast. The only meal we get in a day was supper. A very small meal consisting of carrots, a tiny unseasoned hamburger and a miniature carton of milk. On very rare occasions we got some chicken, which was delicious!

I walked over to the box where we kept scraps and grabbed the only apple out of it. I decided to walk down to my mom. She was visiting a friend of ours. They had a daughter her name was Astrid. Astrid smiled when she saw me, I sat down next to her.

"How are you?" I asked her.

"I could be better." she said looking down at her leg.

A few days before she got hit by one of the factory tractors and her leg got cut up a bit. She had bandages around her leg.

"Can I have some of your apple?" she asked.

"Sure!" I said handing her the apple.

We talk and pased the apple back and forth between us. Soon 6 o'clock came and we were heading to work. I grabbed everything I needed and met up with Astrid. We walked together every morning.

We rounded the corner to see the the thousands of factories that lined the street. For every house there was a factory. Astrid and I worked at the same one, factory 11. I walked up to the check in counter.

"Izayia." I said to the lady.

"Alright, here you go." she said handing me the card that shows my work for the day.

I looked at my card. 'laundry soap making and wood saw FC2'. I hated these tasks but at least they were better than maid service. As soon as Astrid got her card she walked over to me.

"What did you get?" she asked curiously.

"Wood saw and laundry, how bout you?" I asked her.

"Dang, dishes and tree transport. At least we will be able to see each other today."

"Yeah." I said sighing.

I headed into the factory and rounded the corner when my ragged shirt got caught on something. It was the little pipe that jutted out of the wall because of age of the factory. I ripped my shirt off from it and headed to my station.

I looked around, there were was a new kid, that always meant trouble. After a few minutes the instructor walked in.

"Okay! I know you all are 6, 7, and 8 year olds but that doesn't mean that we can't work as well as our parents!" he yelled at us.

"We have been getting complaints about the soap we have been making! So today instead of me instructing you I am going to have one of you classmates do it, because y'all don't seem to wanna listen to me! Izayia! You have been in this factory long enough to know how make soap! Correct?" he said in his military like tone.

"Yes sir!" I yelled to him.

"Alright get up here and start teaching!" he yelled even louder and hit the table infront of him.

I walked up to the front of the room...