Caged Eagles by Eric Walters

expression on my face.
    â€œGo,” my father said. He started off in one direction and I hurried off in the other.
    I followed the path around the side of the building. There was a large sliding door, gaping open. It was big enough to allow a car to drive inside. I slowed down at the entrance. What was that smell? Animals, maybe.
    Cautiously I walked up the ramp leading to the door and peeked inside. It was a barn, a gigantic barn.
    Animal stalls lined the aisles that extended into the distance.
    This couldn’t be the right place. I’d obviously walked into the wrong building. I was just about to turn and leave when my gaze fell on a Japanese woman, standing in front of one of the stalls, broom in hand, sweeping. Two small children came out of the stall. Then I saw other kids and two more women, all Japanese as well, by another stall … and there were people by the next one as well … and then my eyes fell upon my mother and grandmother standing in front of another stall.

.7.
    I stood stock-still, too shocked to move. What were they doing here … what were any of us doing here? The woman with the broom was sweeping up a cloud of dust, and it swirled around, filling the air. I sneezed, and then sneezed again. Wasn’t the foul odor bad enough? I stumbled forward. Why was my family in here, anyway? And why was that woman sweeping out that cattle stall?
    â€œTadashi …” my mother called out. There was a catch in her voice. She sounded all choked up, like she was trying to fight back tears.
    I rushed to her side. “Mom?”
    â€œTadashi … we … we … have to stay.”
    â€œI know,” I said, trying to comfort her as her eyes started to fill with tears. “But we won’t be staying here for too long. Let’s go and find where we’ll be sleeping.”
    â€œNo! You don’t understand … this is where we’re going to be sleeping … here!”
    â€œWhat do you mean here?” I demanded.
    â€œHere! Here!” she said, pointing to the cattle stall.
    â€œNo,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “You’re wrong … we can’t … this is a cattle stall … it isn’t for people, it’s for —”
    â€œAnimals!” my grandmother said, cutting me off. “Animals.”
    My head swirled and I needed to sit down, but there was no place to sit. I took a deep breath, a breath full of dust and the smell of animals, and felt worse instead of better.
    There had to be a mistake. Maybe my mother didn’t understand, or somebody had directed them into the wrong building by accident, or — “Here’s the broom I promised you.”
    I turned around. There was a woman, a white woman, wearing a uniform. My mother reached out, took a broom from her and bowed her head slightly in thanks.
    â€œOnce you clean it out and move in your things it’ll be … okay … for a while … it’s not like you’ll be here that long.”
    My mother offered a weak smile in reply.
    â€œThere are buckets and soap and water at the far end of the building,” the woman continued. “I better go and help settle in the next group of people.”
    She walked away toward the large sliding door. There was a growing crowd of people — families like ours — all standing silently, waiting.
    I turned back to my family. My grandmother now had the broom and she started to sweep. My mother spoke to Yuri and Midori, instructing them to go and get soap and water.
    â€œWhat do you want me to do?” I asked.
    She shrugged. “Meet your father, bring our things.”
    I nodded. That seemed like a good idea. I walked away, picking my way around the women and children who were slowly shuffling along the aisles. Stepping outside, the fresh air felt good. I took a deep breath and my head cleared a bit.
    Coming along the path were more families. As I approached the first group,