Lost

I am currently reading Sold  by Patricia Mccormick. A young girl went on a journey thinking she was going to be a slave for a rich person, but she was wrong. Lakshmi, the main character, actually ends up getting sold into prostitution. Not expecting anything, she is hurt, hungry, and lost. The only thing she wants to do is go home. But her Auntie Mumtaz is keeping her from leaving.

After being forced into sex slavery, Lakshmi is confused, unaware,  and hardened by the subject. She had no clue what she was in for when her stepfather sold her. She thought she was going to the city, to learn valuable lessons, and come back to her family. But here, she is stuck, until she pays back the 20,00 rubels she was sold for. When she tries to run off, and go back home, she gets beaten, starved, and hurt. Mumtaz said she must obey the mens orders. Although she is holding back tears, and in a lot of pain, she must remember to be strong, like her mother Ama. She refuses to give in, and she stands up for herself.

Lakshmi is lost in a scary world. She has nowhere to go and does not know how to deal with the situation she is in. She tries to remember her old life with Ama, and how different it was. She has completely unaware of her surroundings. After she was assulted by the first man, she tells Mumtaz that she is going home. Mumtaz responds saying "Home? And how would you get there?" Lakshmi doesn't know her way home. She doesn't have money, she doesn't know the language they speak, she is a clueless girl desperate to get out. She is scared. Scared of getting killed, hurt, beaten. She is scared of Mumtaz. Mumtaz is holding her back by threatening her if she leaves.

In a way, I can relate to Lakshmi. I know the feeling of being lost, scared and clueless. I remember getting lost in Walmart when I was shopping with my mom in brothers. I remember holding back tears searching for them, and running around desperate to find her. I know the situation is not as nearly as bad as Lakshmi's, but it's the sense of being lost and scared. I have also had things hold me back from doing things. Sometimes I don't do certain things because I think "What if..." and then I think  of what can happen just because of one bad desision.