When Stars Are Scattered

Omar and Hassan wake early and dress in their clean clothes. Despite the large crowd of many people who are waiting and edging nearer to the door, they are eventually called in for their appointment. The interviewer is somber and serious. He reminds Omar that the interview is not like a test: “We just need to get a file started to see if you are eligible for resettlement” (177). Omar is nervous, and telling his story takes a long time because the questions and answers must go through an interpreter. Omar begins with a memory of fields with green vegetation. When he was very young, he often played with toys in the fields where his father farmed. One day while his mother readied lunch to bring to the fields, armed men arrived. They said things Omar did not understand and then shot his father.

Omar ran to tell his mother; his mother told him to take Hassan and run to their neighbor Sadiya’s house in the village. His mother said she would come back. Then she continued on to the fields. Omar took Hassan to Sadiya, where they hid briefly. The village was overrun with men with guns, though, so Omar and Hassan fled along with everyone else.