`` they marched us through the woods for days . `` thank you , luke , '' my mother said . together we sank into the leather , looking up at fox . now all she had to do was do that again about two hundred times . when we reach the top of the stairway , i open the door and sunlight spills over us like warm water . feelings of worry , excitement , anger , love , and hate swirled the school hallways from my classmates and hung over my head in class . 