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Dimensions: 8 x 5

In My Former Life As It Happened in the Past in Xieng Khouang

1. My village used to have hills and forests and houses along the side of the rice fields. Everyone had rice fields and buffalo and cows. We earned our livelihoods with happy hearts. We always helped each other to build the progress of our upland and lowland rice fields, with cooperation. But then came the airplanes to strike. To strike at our houses until they were completely lost. Until we had no place to stay. And we were afraid. Because the planes came almost every day without exception. It was as if we were in jail. We couldn't go anywhere. All we could do was sit in the mouths of the holes.

2. And still there were people who were killed. In the forest and in the rice fields. Every single day. Everyday at least once you heard of someone being killed. They would die and then we would put them in a box in order to take them to be burned in the forest.

3. In part three. We couldn't put them in boxes anymore, just take them and put them into a hole because we had no more wood. We just dug a hole in the foot of the hill and buried them.This is what I think about the people who died in this region. They died like animals die in the forest. Because they went to shoot everyday without exception. Therefore we were afraid and didn't have enough courage to do right. Someone died and we just took him and dumped him and ran back very fast. Some people were not even buried. They were just dumped in a box.