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Chapter 1

(NOTE: I have never been to Uganda. I am not educated with their culture and everything. So please forgive anything inaccurate.)

Water. That is all my mother talks about, water. "Go, Kissa, and do not come back until you have a jug full of water resting on your head." I must go, for my brother is too young. I must walk on my broken leg to water. Water.

The sun bites at my skin just as the wild dogs did a month ago who broke my leg. It is so hot I can see the air rippling, as if the ground and air are dancing together. This is not good. There is no water when it is too hot. I try and quicken my pace, but my leg drags on the ground, its path through the dirt looking like a crooked snake had zig-zagged its way across the dirt. The pain hurts, but I know the pain of thirst, I know it very well, and it is much worse than this.

I arrive at the well, a hole in the ground just large enough to bathe in. After my journey, the sight of the sky reflected in the water's surface is welcome, welcome indeed. The water adds new, brown clouds to the reflection of the sky, but I must look deep to see this, for the water's surface is much lower than it has ever been. There is no one else filling their water jugs, they probably have already come and left. With my bad leg, I spent much longer to make the journey here. I cannot kneel as I normally would. Because of this I must quickly drop to the ground on my hip to lay my broken leg and skirt out to the side of me, which covers me in dirt. But I must get water. I take my chipped plastic cup and scrape it across the top of the water to clear the bugs away, then take a deep scoop. I check to make sure it is clear enough that I can still just see the bottom of the cup, then carefully pour it into the yellow jug. I do this repeatedly, making sure not much water spills over the sides. Once the jug is full, I take another shallow scoop of water and tilt my face, mouth wide open, up to the sun, pouring some onto my burning skin and letting it splash around in my thirsty mouth before clenching my teeth and sucking it through so I can take out as much dirt as possible before swallowing it.

Then I slowly rise, using the water jug to put my weight on instead of my leg. Then I tilt myself so I am only on one leg and swing the now-heavy jug of water up and onto my head. I wobble, then tilt too far and the jug slides from my head, and I go following after. The dirty ground comes up to meet my head with a thud like an earthquake, only instead of shaking the earth it has shaken my head. There is a throbbing that will not go away, and I must blink away red bugs that are flying around me only in my head. I sit up, and the world dances in front of me.

A groan of pain escapes me before I can calm down and look around. The jug of water has not split, thank the Beloved Lord. I scrabble across the dirt and can only think that the tracks I am making now must be a very fat snake, very fat indeed. Just as I grab the handle of the jug, I hear shuffling and two voices, both female and one very shrill and young. I look up, hoping they do not see me in this embarrassing state, but of course they do. A young girl my age who I see now is called Masani is holding the hand of a girl who looks to have only been on this earth for 5 years at most. She looks around so curiously, as if she wants to see everything, every bush and every bug.

"Kissa?" asks Masani when she notices me on the ground. "What has happened?" she rushes over and kneels beside me.

"My broken leg will not let me carry my water jug. I tried and tilted much too far." I say, squinting against the bright sun.

"Here, I will carry the jug," offers Masani. She looks over at the little girl. "Winnie, bring my jug over here." Winnie eagerly runs over on two short legs. Masani looks at her between the eyes. "You must carry this. It is empty, for we do not need water as much as Kissa here. Be careful with it, for dropping the jug means it will have a shorter life, and we must get a new one." she turns back to me and says, "Kissa, this is Winnie. She is my sister and I am showing her how to bring water. Do not worry, I do not need water, really. I only came here to show Winnie."

I nod, then try to get up again. Now my head hurts as well as my leg. I slowly rise and clench my teeth against the pain that is spreading from both ends of me. Masani picks up my water jug and swings it onto her head, easily balancing it atop her short black hair. We begin to walk slowly back in the direction of my home. "Thank you, Masani." I say as we walk, with Winnie following behind as she tries to balance the empty jug atop her small head just like Masani.

Chapter 2

We finally arrive at my home and my mother comes running out. "Kissa, what has happened?" she asks, distress showing on her dark features clearly. Masani explains as she sets the water jug on the ground. Winnie sets her empty jug next to the full one and begins to skip around Masani, humming to herself. Mother embraces me tightly, then takes me into our home. "Masani, would you like some water? You may stay a time if you like; it is not good to travel so much on a day as hot as this."

Masani shakes her head. "No, thank you, I must take Winnie back to our home. Our mother will be waiting." she runs over and hugs me before grabbing Winnie's hand and leaving our home. The door creaks closed, and they are gone.

I must spend the day at home, says Mother. I must stay in bed until my leg may be walked on. My brother, Ssali, helps my mother with dinner because I cannot. I eat potatoes and beans in bed, careful not to spill. Mother and Ssali eat dinner at the table, and while Mother eats her food with a feeling of dignity even though it is peasant food, Ssali gets as much food on his face as he does in his mouth. I laugh, then hold my head, as laughing hurts. Both look at me, concerned, but I smile and lie down as if nothing is wrong.

The sun dips low in the sky, peeking out at me from the horizon. The sky is pink and purple. "Kissa, Ssali must go to the school to sleep, but you cannot. You cannot walk. I will stay with you. Okay?" I nod. The Lord's Resistance Army has not been around these parts for months. The sun disappears, and darkness fills the room. Night sounds creep in, and soon I can hear the steady snorts of my mother, asleep. I close my eyes and wait some time before drifting off into a painful sleep.

Chapter 3

I do not have time to scream. There is a jolt, a rough hand squeezing my shoulder, and I am snatched from my warm bed like a tick off a dog. I open my mouth to let out a sharp scream but I am shoved into something warm and large, and my mouth is clamped shut, filled with bitter cloth. I thrash and kick, but I am stuffed into something and I cannot move enough to grab my mother's attention. I cannot see. I feel dragging across the ground, and still I thrash and move about. There is a sharp blow to my stomach and I curl up, unable to cry out. Tears squeeze out of my eyes but still I fight. Still I fight.

This is it! What do you think? And in case you can't tell, it's about a girl in Uganda being taken by the LRA.