Present day:
I sat in the usual place in my bedroom. The news was on again.
" A man in Japan is currently holding three teachers and twenty seven students hostage. The man has yet to be identified."
I stared at the television with a bleak expression. I've heard it all. The world was so full of crime. Even here in Russia. I can't begin to comprehend what goes through the mind of a criminal. To take the life of another human, no matter how insignificant it may be. I lost my train of thought as the familiar voice of my mother boomed from downstairs.
"Reznya! It's time for dinner, sweetheart."
"Coming, mother!" I responded.
I sat down. Mother placed the food on the table. The usual. A small ham from the the barn outback. It was the only way to make money in my small village. Raise livestock. I hated it.
" Reznya, you haven't even touched your dinner. Is something the matter?" She asked. Mother was always concerned over everything ever since a chicken was stolen a week ago.
" No. I guess I'm am simply a little excited that tomorrow is my ninth birthday." I lied. I didn't care about my age I was concerned about my exams at school. I resented Russia and wanted to escape this barren wasteland of a village. In order to do that, I needed to not only get an excellent education with exceptional grades, but to make enough money for a one way ticket to freedom. I knew that the planes here had a price that seemed like you were paying an arm and a leg, but it was very cheap compared to Japan and the United States. Another reason to get away. Ten dollars in England was like three hundred dollars here. Im so sick of living like this and being poor.
"I'm not hungry. Give my dinner to father when he get's home." I said, lost in thought.
I went to my room to study. Equations, graphing, tables, all boring crap that has no use to me. Even though I was the top of my class, I got treated like an idiot like the rest of them. The gifted and talanted program was a joke. No point in bothering to study this subject. I put the book in my backpack. My clock flashed in my eyes as I bent down. It was nine thirty. At first, I thought nothing of it. Just another Sunday, wasted in this village studying for an exam that could make or break my future and my dreams. Same old same old. The sound of the door downstairs startled me.
