By: Cait F
Utah, Grade: 8

Dear Diary,

I hear all about people starving, and drought around the country, but most of my friends have no personal experience with it. I do. I live on a farm, about 3 miles from town. My brother and sisters and me walk there every day to go to school. At school, we act like everything is OK and continue on as normal. But things are not normal. We walk to town, because we don't have a car. We used to have a car, but when the dust storms came through, and ruined our crop, we had to sell it so we could get enough food. Now the money from the car has almost run out, and we eat less every day. We always here about starving children in Africa, but there are starving children here in the United States. And I'm one of them. I hate being hungry. I always eat as though it's my last meal, because it could be. When I'm hungry, I get to feeling light headed, and more tired that usual. I don't have as much energy as usual, because there is nothing there. It is worse for my little sisters, Annie and Sarah, because they are smaller and they seem to be shrinking. We all are shrinking, even Jake who was always the big strong role model for me. Now I don't know what to do. I don't know if we can last much longer. This depression is killing us. Literally.

Josie