Kids Can Fly: Three walls and a Pencil

First wall.

My name is Marie Antoinette and I am ten years old. I live inside a box in a room of a house. I have lived inside the box since I was three. I am good at spelling and writing and I sing a lot.

I don't know what the world is like outside of my box, except for the room, which I see when I am allowed out. I have a bed and a chair and a table. My mother brings me food every day, and tells me to be quiet. I like to talk to her, but she never talks to me, except to tell me to be a good girl and to be quiet.

Once I heard a man's voice, but he didn't come into the room. My mother told him to go away. I asked her who the man was but she wouldn't say. I am not allowed to stay out of my box for very long.

Sometimes it is cold inside my box, and sometimes it is very hot. I don't know what my face looks like. I have a rough idea because I have felt it with my hand. My face is thin, like the rest of me, and my skin is white like paper.

Some days I am allowed to read books. My mother gives me the books to read, but she cuts out the pictures, so I have to imagine what things look like. I have read a lot about the world outside the room, but my mother says I will never see it. I don't know why she wants me to live in here. I would love to be out for a long time, so I can see what is outside the room.

Second wall.

My name is not really Marie Antoinette. I don't know what my real name is. I saw the name "Marie Antoinette" on the cover of a book, so I thought it would be a good name for me. I didn't find out who she was because my mother took the book away from me before I could read it. She said she had made a mistake.

Sometimes I call myself George. I like that name. I think it is really a name meant for men, but I don't think any of them will mind if I use one of their names. They'll never know anyway.

Today I heard a funny sound. My mother said it was a jet. She said that jets are things that fly through the air. It must have been very big because it made the box and the room shake. I was very scared. I thought the world outside was coming into my box to squash everything flat. My mother told me to stop being stupid, but I don't think I was being stupid. It sounded terrible to me and I didn't know what it was!

I wish I had another girl like me to talk to. My mother