"Why is this thing so heavy?" "Oh, cool!" "How do I look?" "Was that hat in the trunk you just brought up?" "What else is in there?" "These are." "Oh..." "We may have brought up the wrong trunk." "Oh, yeah." "Your mother wouldn't want this up here." "This is her..." "Her treasure chest." "Can you play this?" "No, I can't play 'em." "Your mother can, though." "She loves the bagpipes." "I didn't think girls could play the bagpipes." "Your mother's not a girl." "That is, your mother's never really been a girl the way that other girls..." "Are girls." "Dad, I'd just leave that alone If I were you." "I wonder if it still works." "What's this?" "It's a story... about your mom." "Come on." "I have an idea." "Tell mom to tell you the story just like she told it to me.Okay." "Well, my, my, my, my..." "Hi." "Hi." "How are you, so?" "And what brings you out to the fields today, Lassie?" "I got something for ya." "Dad says there's a story in there." "Oh, yes." "I'm afraid I don't see it." "Well, that's because there's a lot missing." "You can see this is our farm, though, right?" "Yeah, and these mountains are those over there." "Right." "And this is the old cemetery." "And Ira is you, right?" "You don't like the name Iris, do you?" "Nope." "Well, how old were you In that picture?" "I was 11 years old." "I only had one more year left of freedom." "What do you mean?" "I mean that the next year" "I had to go out on the farm and work everyday like my older sisters." "What happened in this picture?" "Who's Oscar?" "We have to go back quite a'ways before we get to what happened in this picture." "The enemy has advanced far enough." "Fire the cannons." "Ira!" "We are waiting, Oscar." "Sorry." "We're not leaving grandmother, Oscar." "She will be with us." "She's with us now." "If grandmother had been treated the way people should be treated... when we work in the fields all our life, she would still be alive today." " Please, don't say that." " But it's true and it's how I feel." " Then, please don't say it around Oscar." " Momma..." "The foreman said that the place where we will be working this summer," "It will be different." "But that doesn't bring our grandmother back, does it?" "But it can be good for us." "And that will be good for Oscar." "That is what I want now." "Please, Marcus, help me to make It good for him." "Go out and tell the girls to come in for dinner." "Okay." "No funny business, okay?" "Please." "Just deliver the message." "If we have do the same thing again for our vacation next year" "As we do every year." "I'll just soon stay out here and hoe beets." "Look how sick that I am!" "I'm not sick of it." "What, you're not sick of hoeing beets, or you're not sick of the same vacation?" " I'm not sick of the same vacation." " I know." "You like cotton candy." "Little pigs." "And birds." "And little bunny rabbits." "And popcorn!" "And so does Ira." "That's why we have to go do the same old stupid thing we do every year." "You just want to go see the Beach Boys." "Don't you?" "Yeah." "Well, then get on the train." "If we're gonna talk mom and dad into doing this, then we've all got to be on board, including Ira." "Well, that will never happen." "She hates the beach boys." "She hates everything." "Except her army men and baseball." "She should have been born a boy." "She is a boy." "She doesn't do one thing or like one single thing that girls like." "She doesn't even like her name." "Would you like your name if is its Iris?" "No." "But I wouldn't give myself a man's name." "It's not normal." "Who's not skin off your nose how she acts." "Wrong, I can't go anywhere, do anything with my friends... without somebody asking me," ""why is Ira like that?"" "She makes our whole family look strange." "No!" "Ira, no!" "Dinner's ready!" "Ira!" "Get back here, Ira!" "I'm gonna kill you!" "You will die!" "Hey, dad, I heard about this machine..." "It goes along the fields, cuts out all the weeds" "And takes care of the beets..." "I never heard of anything like that." "They might be working on something like that." "What's it called?" "It's like a corilla... rilla..." "No, no, you mean a corrugator." "See, that goes along and cuts the furrows and then we run the water down to irrigate." "No, that's not what I'm talking about." "I can't remember." "Well, I got the exact acreage... on the crop for this year." "From who?" "Jack, the surveyor." "How much?" "No." "Don't say it." "I don't want to know." "It's a lot more than last year." "Let's just leave It at that." "If we know it just makes it worse" "You wannna to go to college next year, right?" "This is part of the price we have to pay to make that happen." "Besides, you don't have to hoe the whole crop by yourself." "What do you mean?" "I mean you're gonna have help." "From who?" "From the little crop-hoeing fairies, of course." "You are such a dip, Iris." "Thank you." "No names, please." "It's not a name." "It's what she is." "Do you want to hear the rest of this or not?" "Sorry." "I went out to the labor camp, maybe with the foreman, and gonna hire a couple of mexican families to move in... and help us with the crop." "That's what I was afraid you're gonna say." "Why?" "Because dad, you know all that stuff that goes on when the mexicans come in to work." "It's a mess." "Yes, but whose fault is that most of the time, Jane?" "That's not the point, mom." "Then what is the point?" "Ira..." "When the mexican workers come in Summer" "It means trouble." "It doesn't matter who starts it." "I'm sure it matters to them." "I didn't mean like that." "What I mean is when the fights break out," "What ends happening it's always the same." "Well, still the weeds are not going to hoe themselves, and we can't do it all." "Maybe we could hire some other people to come the work." "Like who?" "Your friends?" "Sure." "Right, Afton." "They'd come." "Terry and chris?" "And Nancy?" "There's a picture for ya." "I don't think you're being fair." "Well, maybe not, but it's Ok just this once," "I'd like to hire somebody who knows which end of the hoe to hold." "When will the workers be here?" "They should be here ready to work monday." "D-day." "D-day?" "Invasion day, Aftonia." "Dad?" "Can we go into town tomorrow?" "A little saturday day off." "But, if you don't work tomorrow," "It doesn't go away." "It just gets moved to later." "That's okay." "I believe in later." "Who were they, mama?" "It doesn't matter." "Where you going?" "To the railroad tracks." "If you're not back here when the girls... leave for town no go without you." "Down and pick me up there." "I'll tell them, but that doesn't mean they'll do it." "She's going for the record today, ladies and gents." "The last time we saw this young lady, she tossed eight rocks through the moving cars." "Today she's gonna do ten." "It seems impossible, but she's vowed to do it." "The first throw goes right through and the crowd goes wild." "Two." "Three." "Four." "Five." "Six." "Seven." "Eight." "Nine." "The poofy-headed sisters are closing in." "Only a few more seconds left to break the record." "Can she do it?" "Come on, let's go!" "She does it!" "Drop the bike!" "We'll pick it up later!" "She breaks the record with one last throw." "This kid is incredible." "What a kid!" "What a future!" "What a dip!" "Where you two been?" "Just down there." "Seen Afton?" "Yeah, I saw her." "She was talking with Tav Jobarth." "I've got to have a talk with that girl about her taste in men." "Teddy Allen was there, too." "See what I mean." "Tav and Teddy, ugh!" "So, Jane, how ya doing?" "Fine, fine." "Did you get a free bowl of soup with that haircut, Randy?" "You're not being too friendly today, Jane." "I'm being friendly." "I like Randy's hair." "You don't think I'm being too unfriendly, do you, Randy?" "I don't know." "Why don't you jump in with us?" "I'd love to, but I'm in charge today." "They'll be okay." "Come on, two minutes." "Maybe some other time." "You mean it?" "Sure." "Maybe sometime when Blake's driving, maybe..." "Why does he gotta be driving?" "He doesn't even have a car." "I don't know." "Well, would ya look at that." "Summer's here." "Hey, Jane, you know what we call those trucks?" "Mexican airliners." "They've had a long, hard trip." "Come on, they don't need us to stand here and stare at them." "What happened?" "What is this?" "What did they threw?" "Marcus, where are you going?" "You got something to say to me, bug?" "Did you drop this?" "Did you drop this?" "That's a nice beaner boy." "You know what?" "You can have it." "Morons." "I don't figure Blake in with those two." "What?" "Nothing." "What happened to Ira?" "I had her go out to the pasture to pick up all those army men." "There must be a million of them out there." "What are we gonna do with her?" "In six months, she's going to be 12 years old." "I wouldn't worry about it too much." "I wasn't so different when I was her age." "You know, the funniest part is, she'll probably... turn out to be the prettiest of all the girls." "Anyway, she should be back." "Well, I'll go find her." "I thought she might like to ride to the labor camp with me." "1, 2," "3, 4," "5, 6," "7, 8," "9, 10," "11, 12," "13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20," "21!" "21!" "A new record!" "Dad..." "Yeah?" "What do they do in Scotland when somebody dies?" "Where did that question come from?" "You been losing a lot of men in battle lately?" "No." "Do you know how the people in the old cemetery died?" "No, I don't actually." "That's a good question." "I should know, I guess." "I wonder if anybody did anything for them when they died?" "Somebody buried 'em." "Where are all these questions coming from?" "I thought that old cemetery was scary to ya." "It is." "I'll be right over here, Ira." "I'm gonna talk to the foreman." "Do you want play?" "Play?" "Yes, you play?" "So you couldn't sleep because Oscar was coming?" "No." "I didn't even know Oscar's family would work for us." "I didn't even know his name, yet." "You didn't?" "Nope." "How come you couldn't go to sleep?" "Because I had just gone into this whole different world." "And very soon, that world was going to be coming to my own front door." "I was so wound up," "I could have drilled myself right Into the ground." "That next monday morning," "I was up before the sun." "Battle stations." "Invasion..." "Dad?" "Ira?" "Ira, what are you doing?" "Surveillance." "I was spotted, though." "Dang it!" "Spotted?" "You ruined my cover... at the last second." "What's all this sneaking around about?" "You've gotta know where the enemy's gonna be first." "Then you know what to do with the enemy later." "I see." "You have an amazing Imagination, Ira." "I wouldn't change that for the world." "That's a gift." "And I know you're excited to have these people... come up to our farm." "And I'm glad you're excited." "They are amazing." "There's no question they're different from us." "They're mexicans." "They're people." "They're people, Ira." "They're not just big life-sized versions... of your army men." "You see what I'm saying?" "See, Ira, sometimes in the world... when a group of people who are pretty much alike suddenly come in contact with a group of people who are different, they..." "They tend to stop thinking of them as people." "Instead, they think of them as things" "Because it's easy, with a little effort, to understand a thing." "But it takes a lot of effort to understand a person." "Especially one who's different." "Will you try to think about that while we have them here with us?" "How much do you pay 'em?" "About twice what they'd get anywhere else." "That's our little secret, okay?" "Okay." "Would you go outside and tell Ira to come in?" "Sure, where is she?" "Front porch, I think." "Ira, come and eat!" "I'm not hungry..." "Is that your name?" "Oscar." "My name." "Era?" "I..." "Ira." "I..." "Irrra." "I was watching the workers out there today from the field we were working in..." "They were zooming up and down the rows." "They are pretty fast." "When you could tell clear from the field we were working in they got a lot done." "Dad, you keep saying, "uh-huh, uh-huh,"like" " You think I'm leading up to something." " Are you?" "No." "But, I was just..." "Dad!" "What?" "I'm sorry, you're not leading up to something even though it sounds like you are." "Goa ahead." "I was gonna say is... is that if they can get that much done in one day, then... maybe we could go just a little bit further away on you vacation." "And gonna see the Beach Boys." "Rene!" "I didn't say anything." "That's true, she didn't." "Hello, Ira." "Hi." "This is my friend, Oscar." "Nice to meet you, Oscar." "I invited him over for dinner." "His mom said it was okay, didn't she, Oscar?" "Okay?" "Eat?" "Yes." "Well, why don't you get another plate and maybe we could just scoot everybody up this way." "Rene, yes, thanks." "Scoot toward me." "Thank you." "All right." "He's a person,just like we are." "So everybody just act normal, okay." "Right, dad?" "That's right." "Dad!" "What are you doing?" "You're gonna die in those beds." "Up and on your feet, lasses." "You're moving into the field with the other workers today." "So hurry up!" "That's the way to 'rouse the poofy heads, dad." "Wish I'd thought of it myself." "Now, I know how Marilyn Monroe feels." "Where you goin'?" "What are you doin'?" "You family?" "Huh-uh." "We don't know 'em." "They died a long time ago." "You no know who buried?" "It was here when we started the farm." "I like it." "You do?" "Yes." "You don't?" "Huh-uh." "Why?" "Because..." "It's spooky." "Spoky?" "No, spoo-ky." "You know, oooo, like ghosts." "Oooo, you scared, then." "Come on, let's get out of here." "From that day on, the cemetery became our meeting place." "Every morning we'd meet up there and launch out on our adventures." "And what did you go do?" "Oh, about everything you could think of." "Like what?" "Like everything." "Gotcha!" "La vida es como un rio." "La vida es como un rio." "Rio." "Un rio." "Good." "So, what does it mean?" "Life is like a river." "Life is like a river." "Okay, I got one." "How do you say "poofy-headed sisters" in spanish?" "Poofy head?" "Yeah." "What mean it?" "It means... girls who act too much like girls." "I think I no tell you." "Why?" "To be better to your sisters." "You be better... nicer." "Yeah, well, you can say that 'cuz you don't have any sisters." "So you don't know how they are." "They don't deserve better, nicer." "Sometimes getting all primped up, I just wanna smack 'em." "But they you famly." "You no ever want hit family, not any person, anytime or anywhere." "Hit no help." "You be better and nicer to your sisters." "Then I teach you how to say "poofy head."" "Deal." "Well, I gotta get back to work." "Yeah, right." "But we're on, right?" "Uh-huh." "So, I'll see you Saturday?" "Yes." "Jane, you're not gonna back out?" "Oh, no." "Is that her little mexi-man?" "Shut up." "Make it quick; we gotta get back." "This one." "This one is the absolute best." "I could eat these until I die and I wouldn't care." "You probably no have to eat too many." "Is this one of the tacos that work for your dad?" "Get lost, okay." "Your face is turning red." "You know, if I were you," "I would never bring him out in public." "You okay?" "Just ignore 'em." "Okay." "Hey, guys." "Hang on a sec." "Hi." "Seems like every time I see you're in the back seat of that car." "When you don't have wheels of your own, what else can you do?" "Got a point there, I guess." "Can I ask you something?" "Sure." "Why you cruisin' around with Todd and Randy?" "Why not?" "They're okay." "Maybe it's the only way I can see the people" "I really want to see." "Hey, how's your mexican buddy doing?" "You guys seemed pretty chummy other day." "Anything wrong with that?" "You tell me." "You know what," "I'm just going to forget this part of our conversation... because I don't think you really buy in to all that." "All what?" "All that talk Todd and Randy dish out about anybody who isn't as white as they are." "Maybe I do feel the same way they do." "Well." "Maybe." "But I hope not." "Are you coming tonight?" "Oh, yeah." "You don't seem too excited." "Who's your date?" "Todd's old girlfriend." "Sorry." "It's okay." "I'll just pretend It's somebody else." "Maybe next time you could work it out so you won't have to pretend." "Yeah, maybe... see you later." "Bye." "That was an interesting conversation." "You heard all that?" "Sure, I heard it." "I didn't understand it, though." "Good." "No, what I mean is, If Blake's the one you like, why are you going out with T-T-Todd tonight?" "I don't get it." "Well, the way I look at it is," "I go out with him tonight, have a terrible time, and then, maybe he'll leave me alone." "And since we're going to a dance and we're all going together, then, you know... maybe I'll get to spend some time with Blake." "See how complicated being a girl is." "Remember the deal now." "No playing tricks on Jane When she comes home from her date." "Promise?" "I promise." "Doesn't mean we can't spy on 'em." "Hey, Oscar, can I ask you something?" "Okay." "How come you always want to meet down at the cemetery?" "Because I like it." "Oh, yeah, I know." "But how come you don't ever want to meet anywhere else?" "Like at the lookout or something?" "It's not okay at cemetery?" "No, it's okay." "It's just not normal." "You know what I mean?" "It's not normal to like to be around dead people." "Why?" "Because they're spooky." "Why?" "Because they're dead." "My grandmother dead and she no spoky." "Spoo-ky." "Spoo-ky." "She's not." "But your grandma isn't in that cemetery." "But when I go there," "I feel like she is there." "My grandma died last year." "I'm sorry." "Where is your grandmother buried?" "In the cemetery in by town." "Do you think that cemetery is spooky, too?" "Yeah, I guess." "It's kinda creepy." "Creaky?" "Cree-py." "You know, spoo-ky." "Do you like your grandmother?" "Uh huh." "I like my grandma a lot." "Did you go visit her?" "At the cemetery?" "Well, no." "You should." "It lets you feel quiet." "Quiet?" "Inside." "You're not normal, too." "I'm not normal?" "No, you're not." "What's not normal about me?" "You live like boys do." "I like living like a boy." "I'm gonna have to be a girl soon enough." "You don't even use girl's name." "Your real name is Iris." "Who told you that?" "They're back early." "Come on, Jane!" "Calm down, will ya?" "I brought you home." "I should have walked." "You're not giving me a chance..." "To what?" "I don't know, to say something." "To say something?" "What you need to do, Todd, is keep your mouth shut and not say so much." "I don't understand why you get so mad about what I said." "Because I'm sick of hearing it, that why." "I am sick of hearing about what you want to do to anybody... who isn't just like you are." "So?" "So?" "!" "As far as I concerned you're just like all those people on TV... all those people who throw bricks and set fires and hurt people!" "What are you talking about?" "Nevermind!" "I honestly don't think you're smart enough to know what I am talking about." "What?" "You don't think I could do the things I say I do?" "No, that's not what I'm talking about, but suit your brother..." "But let me tell you what I think." "I think if you and your goons ever got a chance to do anything, any of those people around you'd all get your faces kicked in." "Is that right?" "That's right!" "Does that go for your beaner boyfriend, too?" "I don't have a beaner boyfriend." "But if you're talking about a certain person that works here," "I'd say that goes especially for him." "I'm gonna walk home." "That was incredible." "Are we leaving?" "Yup, we're leavin'." "What a show!" "Remind me never to get Jane that mad at me." "She ate Todd up and spit him out." "I can see pieces of him all over the driveway." "Hey, where you goin'?" "It time to go." "You all right?" "All right, yes." "I'll see you tomorrow." "What is this, huh?" "Get a little soft, huh, Blakey boy." "Why don't you go back up there to Jane and tell her how great you are now." "Yeah, she'll cuddle right up to ya." "Come on, this is your big chance to win her heart." "Okay, fine, walk home and don't say anything." "It's no skin off my nose." "All right." "I'll say something." "Jane is right!" "Get out!" "What?" "Get out, I said." "Hurry up!" "Randy?" "Todd?" "Shut up!" "Look, get out right now!" "Make couple seconds or you're gonna be trapped..." "And you're not gonna like it!" "Come on!" "So, you think Jane was right, huh?" "Well, let's find out." "What are you gonna do?" "Watch!" "Todd!" "Ira, go get your dad!" "What's goin' on?" "Just go get him." "Hurry!" "Todd, don't do this!" "This isn't right." "Shut up!" "What's goin' on?" "Todd's gone crazy." "This isn't just calling names and picking fights." "This is bad, Todd, come on!" "Shu up!" "Oscar!" "Come on!" "You wanna kick my face in now?" "Come on!" "Come on!" "Come on, hurry up!" "There's Todd's car." "Down here." "I'll get an ambulance." "There's no time for that." "Let's get him out." "Right." "Be carefull." "Let's get him in the back." "I'll go get Todd." "George, what happened?" "I don't have time to explain." "Just get in and get us to the hospital." "I wanna go, too." "Ira, please stay." "Where's Todd?" "Where is he?" "!" "I didn't want that to happen!" "Then why didn't you do something?" "!" "I didn't want that to happen." "Why didn't I do something?" "Everything was different after that night." "Marcus was in the hospital and... there was this sudden change of feeling." "Like a wall had gone up between us." "We all felt it immediately." "What did they say?" "They didn't have to say anything." "What do you mean?" "Well, it was like they connected us to what had happened." "But you didn't do anything." "Yeah, but try and put yourself in their position." "I mean, one night suddenly some boys... come driving through your home, and one of them was seriously hurt." "Well, I think they did what we all tend to do... when something bad happens," "Just lump people into groups." "And I think they lumped us into the same group with those boys." "Do you see what I mean?" "Not really." "Well, I didn't either." "But all I could understand... is that Oscar and me weren't friends anymore." "The workers were still doing their job, but nothing was the same." "Oscar and me didn't play anymore." "He spent everyday in the fields with his family... because Marcus couldn't work." "One day when Marcus got out of the hospital," "Jane and Blake went down to see him, but his mother just told them that he didn't want to see anybody." "Summer finally ended, but the workers still weren't finished." "Mom talked to Oscar's mother and told her we could hire more workers to help finish... the job before their permits ran out." "But she told mom they'd made a commitment and they would keep it." "Almost everyday I saw trucks with other workers... heading south to go home to mexico." "It was a sad time for me." "Those last days of summer passed by very slowly." "Hey, Ira!" "Is that your little beaner boyfriend?" "Your little brother's got a big mouth, Tim." "So?" "So... maybe you should talk with him about his language." "Maybe I don't have a problem with his language." "Maybe you won't have a problem if I put my fist in his face then." "Stay out of this, Rene." "Since you put it that way, Rene..." "I know how tough you MacLaren girls are." "Not so sure about the boys." "Just don't let 'em get to you, Ira." "Yeah, just ignore them." "Did you really make friends with a mexican?" "I mean, It really doesn't matter to me." "Besides, I think those guys on the bus are creeps." "And I bet your sister could have put 'em in their place." "Who are you?" "My name's Jim." "I'm new." "Where'd you move from?" "American falls." "Ever heard of it?" "Nice place." "All eyes to the front now, please." "Who can tell me what's different about becoming a sixth grader?" "Well, the first thing is we get right to work." "In fact, tonight all of you will be going home with homework." "Hi." "Hi." "Saw you sitting here all alone." "Yeah, I think I got a disease or something." "Better be careful." "You look okay to me." "Are you lost?" "I don't like the way your sister talked to me and my brother on the bus." "Well, why don't you go talk to her, then." "Very funny." "I'm not trying to be funny." "I heard about what happened on your farm..." "How the mexi got hit by the car." "We all think it would have been a lot better" "If more of the car had hit him." "Well, though." "You know, it's too bad that his whole family didn't get hit," "If you ask me." "Well, she didn't ask you." "Watch your mouth, new boy." "Yes, sir." "So... what's it like having a mex for a friend?" "That's what I thought." "I wouldn't talk about it, either." "Here, can you take this?" "Yeah." "I'll see you inside." "So, are you lost?" "My friends aren't mexs or anything else you call them." "They're people, just like you and me." "They are peolple." "I think they're greasy little animals..." "Things that like to eat bugs..." "My friend's name is Oscar." "He's the best friend I ever had." "He's the best friend anyone could ever have." "I'd pick him for a friend over anyone else," "So don't ever call him any of your little names again." "You better be ready to take back what you said to me." "I'm not gonna take it back." "Then you better be ready to fight." "I'm not gonna fight, either." "Look, I'm not gonna fight and I'm not gonna take back what I said." "If you don't decide what you're gonna do, we'll decide for you." "It's three to one, Iris." "It's three to two." "There's a fight on the playground!" "Whatever it is, we'll take care of it." "Come on, Ira." "Let's go." "Mom." "Jim, what in the world...?" "I'm okay." "You got a great kid there." "You should be very proud of him." "See ya tomorrow, Ira." "Yeah, see ya." "Thanks." "Do you want to let any of those deep thoughts spill out over to me?" "I'm proud of you, Ira." "I just hate to see you get into fights." "Why?" "'Cuz I'm a girl." "No, because I don't think it's right." "Do you think a fight on the playground... changed those boys' minds about anything?" "No." "But it wasn't really a fight." "I was just defending myself." "Well, that's what the principal told me." "Glad to hear you say the same thing." "You had every right to defend yourself." "All I was trying to do was stand up for Oscar." "I know you were." "That was the right thing to do." "Yeah, I guess." " But..." " What's the point of standing up for him?" "It didn't do anything," "Except that everybody hates me now." "Sometimes that's the price you get paid for being a real friend." "Well, why should I be a real friend... to someone that doesn't want to be my friend anymore?" "Oscar hates me now too," "And I didn't even do anything to him." "Are you really sorry you stood up for Oscar?" "Maybe." "Well, I'll tell you something." "If Oscar had seen how you stuck up for him today, he would feel a lot different." "Yeah, well..." "He didn't see." "Hello." "How are you, Oscar?" "Maria?" "We've missed you." "I came over 'cuz I wanted to tell you about something that happened to Ira today." "At school?" "At school, yes." "I also brought this for you." "She was going to give it to you, but after Marcus got hurt," "What happened to Ira at school?" "Hi." "Hi." "Is Iris here?" "Oscar wants to know if Iris is here." "Umm, no, she's outside, somewhere." "You want me to try and find her?" "No, I know where is." "I wonder if you could give this to your friend." "My friend?" "The one who tried to help." "Oh, you mean Blake." "Yeah, he helped the sheriff find the boy who was driving the car." "Yes, your mother tell me." "This tell him thank you very much." "This will mean a lot to him." "I'll make sure he gets it." "Thank you." "It's nice to see you again." "You know, i was just about to go for a walk." "Would you like to come?" "We could talk some more." "Yes, yes, thank you." "I thought I'd bought the farm." "Yes, very spooked." "Is that the end of the story?" "Just about." "But that's why you drew the picture, isn't it?" "Because of what happened with the snake." "I didn't draw the picture." "Oscar did." "Well, Oscar gave it to you?" "Sort of." "Well, did he or didn't he?" "Well, let me finish telling you the story and you'll understand." "Hey, what's mom doin'?" "Are you okay?" "Oh, yeah." "Just a little sad." "Why?" "Well..." "U.S. immigration agents came out today... and told our workers they had to leave the country, immediately." "Why did they do that?" "Their permits expired about two or three weeks ago." "So, they're gone?" "I didn't even get to say goodbye." "Will we ever see them again?" "I don't know." "Sometimes when they stay as long as they did, they don't let them come back again." "Do you wanna ride back with us?" "Yeah, I guess." "What's that?" "It's a story." "Did you ever see Oscar again?" "No, I never did." "But I've thought about him many, many times." "I've wondered where he ended up living." "I've wondered if he had a chance to have a family like I did." "I've wondered if he thinks about me and the time we spent together that summer." "Do you ever wonder if he kept... the picture that you made for him?" "I even wonder about that." "Really?" "Really!" "Because except for you and dad." "And the rest of our family," "I've never had a better friend than Oscar." "I don't think I ever will." "Did you guys ever find out who was buried at the old cemetery?" "Nope, we never did." "My attitude changed toward the cemetery because Oscar." "# Somewhere children are playing, # # and somewhere children are saying, #" "# I see that we don't look the same. #" "# Though now and then your words are strange, #" "# I wonder if we'll see the day #" "# Where you and I as friends can stay. #" "Did your dad ever tell you what they do in scotland for people who died?" "Yeah?" "I got an idea." "# In friendship's field #" "# We'll meet each other.#" "# We'll make our way there to grow together. #" "# We'll find our way back home # # to friendship's field. #" "# The years have come and gone, # # but inside there still lives on #" "# All the strength you gave me, warm and safe. #" "# Tonight I'm wishing on a star #" "# Somehow the world will hear my heart #" "# That reached-out arms all feel the same. #" "# That different's just another way #" "# And kindness leads us to that place #" "# Where soon we all as friends can stay. #" "# In friendship's field we'll meet each other. #" "# We'll make our way there to grow together. #" "# We'll find our way back home. #" "# In friendship's field #" "# We are forever, #" "# Where friends together are for each other. #" "# We'll always be at home # # in friendship's field. #" "# Tonight, I'm wishing on a star #" "# That all the world can hear their hearts. #" "Done by (c) dcd / June 2013"