Juan's Journey

Juan's Journey

Juan and his two little sisters were used to moving a lot.Their parents were migrant farmworkers.They traveled around the country following the crops as they came into season.They picked cucumbers in South Carolina and cabbages in North Carolina.In Virginia they would pick apples until the apple season ended in October.Then they would travel back south to Florida.There Juan would go to school for part of the year.

The Garcias had to set up a new home every time they moved.Sometimes home was a tiny trailer owned by the person who ran the farm.Other times home was the tent that the Garcias kept in their car.

Juan worked hard when the family arrived at each new farm.He unloaded the car as quickly as he could.While he did he would think to himself, maybe this time we could stay.But the dream had never become reality.

Juan was twelve now. He wished that he belonged somewhere.He wished something belonged to him. A pet would help.Juan longed for a dog. But his parents always said no.It was too hard to travel with animals. And dogs were expensive to feed.

Juan's parents were named Manuel and Teresa.During the harvest season they went looking for jobs.They would learn which farmers in an area were hiring.Then they would ask them for work.

This season, Manuel and Teresa were doing things differently.They had agreed to work for a crew leader.The crew leader wasn't a farm owner. He wasn't a farmworker.Instead, he was a middleman. He found jobs for farmworkers and set up their harvest schedules.He would help them find places to live.The crew leader also arranged rides to work for farmworkers who needed them.In return, he kept part of each worker's pay.

Manuel was wary about the deal.He worried that the crew leader would take too much of his pay.He didn't want to give money to someone who didn't work with him.

But Manuel didn't have a choice. Bad weather had ruined many of the crops.Because of that there was less work than usual.Unsure of what to do, Manuel and Teresa had agreed to sign on with a crew leader.The crew leader had promised them jobs picking strawberries in Cayuga County, New York.That's where the Garcias were headed.

The rain fell against the car windows.Juan watched it streak down in different directions. Everyone was quiet.His sisters, Maria and Rosa, had both fallen asleep.Even his mother seemed to be dozing. Juan worried about his mother.She frequently complained of being tired. But she said she couldn't sleep.Perhaps it was worry about the future that kept his mother awake.

Juan's mother had been too tired to work recently.In the past she had brought Juan's sisters into the fields with her.Maria was five years old. She had already become a good babysitter for Rosa.Rosa was just two. Maria knew what games Rosa liked to play.The one where Maria had Rosa find a caterpillar was Rosa's favorite.Juan felt sad knowing that his sisters hadn't had a chance to play the game recently.

Juan kept watching his mother.He thought of all the things he would like to do for her when he was older.He would buy her a house so she and his father would never have to move again.He would buy one right next door for himself.He would make sure his parents had a car that always worked.It would be a red one. Red was his mother's favorite color.

......
未登录用户只显示文件一半，登录后可以查看全文，并且可以听外教原声朗读。