slammed my hand against one of the boards that I realized what they were going to do. I started to cry and when I heard the sound of a hammer and a sharp, intense pain in my hands I screamed as loud as I could. So loud my voice broke and I started throwing up. My hand had a nail sticking out of it, it was leaking blood around the metal and dripping down. Panic was in me so much I felt like I was drowning but suddenly I was frozen I couldn’t move. Another hammer and another stab of pain. My eyes kept filling with tears and the tears stung them. I tried to pull my hands away but I was stuck. I was stuck on the board with nails through my hands and only a small plank underneath my feet. Gill smacked me across the face twice before he spat on me. Then Payton and Tomis spat on me too and walked behind me towards Sunshine House. I cried and tried to call for Nan but my voice was strangled and whenever I tried I just coughed. My hands hurt… every time I tried to pull them more pain burst from the nails. I shifted my feet and tried to keep as much weight as I could off of them but all I could do was make them hurt less. I called for Nan and called for Nan and I said I was sorry… but no one came back for me. I was here all alone with just the greywastes ahead of me and the twisted trees. No one came for me that night… I stayed in the greywastes my hands throbbing, not just my palms but my entire hand was hurting and all red. That morning some of the kids from Sunshine House came to look at me. The younger ones looked and ran away and some picked up rocks and threw them. I didn’t cry when one hit me but soon all the younger ones were throwing rocks. Even Tracy who was only five; he had a bunch of them he threw until he got bored and went away. Some of the other kids didn’t throw rocks but they made faces at me. I think I hated that even more. I called for Nan again but Nana never came. The people in Sunshine House were too far away, all back in the houses and I couldn’t hear them. I only heard when the kids approached and even then none of them would help me get down, even when I said please. My throat was dry too, when an older kid Roland came to look at me I asked him for some water but he threw a rock and it hit the side of my face. He was Gabe’s friend so I don’t know what I expected. I sniffed and wondered when Nan was going to give me water or some food. I had learned my lesson… I wanted to get down. The blood had dried around my palms and now flies were starting to buzz around the wounds. I wanted to pull my hands right through but the top of the nail I had been nailed with were too big. I tried a few times though but it hurt too much; everything hurt too much. Why was no one coming to see me? I couldn’t look behind me I could only look ahead, usually when I was in trouble Nan came or Missy came with my food but everyone was ignoring me now. The thirst was the worst, even worse than the hurt from my wrists and the hunger. I felt myself desperate for some water, any water at all. The thirst burned my throat like fire, a flame that made my mouth feel like a desert. Even my tongue was raw and dry, it flopped around my mouth like a sandpapery piece of meat. I called for Nan and called for Nan until my throat hurt too much so I stopped. I even stopped crying because I just didn’t have the energy to do it. I just stayed and looked at the grey landscape in front of me and stared. That night when the sun went down I heard boots behind me. I didn’t turn to see who it was, it was probably more kids to laugh and throw rocks at me. Then I saw a dark-skinned hand. I opened my mouth to say hello to Nana but she put her finger to her lips for me to be quiet. Nana held some water up to my lips and I drank. It was such a relief on my aching dry mouth. I drank and drank until it was all gone; it was the best thing I had ever tasted. Then another surprise. Nana had a hammer in her hand, quietly and