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two pine-eating caterpillars whenever he spoke. He stood me up, dusted
off my coat, and said, "Why do you sleep here? Where's
your house?"
    "I don't know where I am. I'm looking for my grandparents," I sobbed.
    "How did you get here?"
    "I don't know. Take me to my grandparents."
    I wanted to go back to the mountain. I missed my
grandparents and wanted to jump into their arms.
    "Do you have your birth ID?" he took the backpack
from my back and handed it to another soldier next to him,
who opened it to search inside.
    "No. I don't have it."
    Their faces wore worried looks.
    "Where do they live?"
    I looked at Uncle Shin. His eyes tried to say something
through his nervous countenance. I followed my grandmother's instruction exactly: "Pyongyang." His head nodded slightly with a smile.
    "Do you live there?" The bushy-eyebrow man gave a
suspicious look. I nodded my head lightly.
    "But why are you here right now? This is far away from
Pyongyang-a kid can't get here alone."
    "I don't know. I was here when I opened my eyes. Take
me to my grandparents," I wailed.
    "How can we find them?"

    The soldier searching my backpack handed the pictures
to the bushy-eyebrow man, and the other soldiers moved
in to look at them.
    "How can we find them with these pictures?"
    The soldiers made a fuss about that, and the bushy-eyebrow man stood up. Uncle Shin spoke out from behind,
"Let's take her with us. We can ask some government offices to find her grandparents."
    "No, it's too much hassle. She may be from the limited
area close to here," the bushy-eyebrow soldier murmured,
touching his chin.
    The soldier holding the pictures looked at them one
more time. "But look at these-her grandfather is obviously a general with a high position. We'd better take her to
the government office-they'll take care of her."
    The bushy-eyebrow man hesitated and looked at me for
a while, his eyebrows undulating with thought. He gathered the pictures and put them back into my backpack. "Is
there anything else in there?"
    "No, just some clothes, nothing else," the soldier said,
shrugging his shoulders.
    "Take her in the car. Let's move. Get in the cars, men.
Hurry, we're late now!"
    I got in the same car as Uncle Shin, and he told the others he'd take care of me. He held my hand without a word,
but when the car started moving, he whispered, "Good
girl. You did a good job. You'll meet your grandparents
soon," and rubbed my back softly. I wanted to say how
scared I was during the night and that I wanted to go back
to the mountain, but sitting next to him, all I felt was relief,
and I held his hand tightly. I rebuffed the soldiers' questions
until they grew tired of asking, and gave me whatever food they had in their pockets. Uncle Shin pulled a khaki cotton
blanket over my legs and hugged me tightly.

    I fell asleep, but awoke with a start several times. I kept
having nightmares of my grandparents and sister being tied
together by a thick metal chain and dragged into a deep
cave. My sister stared at me and cursed, Everything is because
of you. Because of you... I cried out, I'll go with you. Don't
leave me! But my grandfather called down to me, Don't come
here. You're not part of our family anymore. Then they left together and disappeared, leaving me in the middle of a terrific darkness.
    I awoke, choked with tears, crying, "Grandmother!
Grandfather! Don't leave me!" The soldiers thought I was
crying for the grandparents in the pictures, and Uncle Shin
cradled me until I fell asleep.
    I awoke the final time to his words, "Jia, get up! We've
arrived in Pyongyang."
    I opened my eyes and looked toward the open back of
the truck.
    The car was still moving-not on the rugged mountain
path, but on even asphalt. There were high buildings in all
directions, and a big golden statue, stretching its arm up to the
sky, came in sight. That was my first glimpse of Pyongyang.

     

Part 2

     

Second Life
    s your name Jia?"
    "Yes."
    "How old are