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.

Omar cannot answer the man’s repeated questions about his mother’s fate; he breaks down in tears. Fatuma says he needs a break. The unsmiling man fetches an orange drink with ice; it is the first time Omar tastes a cold drink. The man tries to smile and encourages Omar to continue.

Omar explains that he and Hassan walked with other refugees the whole way to Kenya, as some had heard a rumor that a camp existed for refugees. Many from their village died on the journey, including their neighbor Sadiya. The boys arrived malnourished, sick with malaria, and dehydrated. When they grew well enough to leave the hospital, they met Fatuma, who agreed to be a foster mother to them. Hassan’s seizures and temper tantrums were difficult and scary, but Fatuma did not allow her friends to convince her to get rid of Hassan. There was no medicine for his condition, and no doctors could help. Fatuma told Omar that she lost her own boys when they were killed in Somalia. Omar says Fatuma is now their legal guardian.

The man says he has enough information; they will be notified in two to four months if invited for a second interview. Omar slides to the ground outside, exhausted. He sees many emotional people in the yard: “I guess like me, they had just relived the worst days of their lives” (195).

The colors of the panels depicting Omar’s backstory are tinged with shades of brown and orange, and the dialogue bubbles and narration blocks have a yellow background. These panels contrast with the real-time story panels and are reminiscent of a faded photograph or old-time daguerreotype.