Summary

In the hospital, Arn is given powdered milk every day, although he can’t keep it in. When the nurse tells him that it is March of the year 1979, Arn realizes that he has been away from home for four years. As near as he can figure out, he is fifteen years old now. Though safe, a simple thing like a rainstorm has Arn thinking that the battle has begun again. First Lady Carter tours the facility and Arn watches as she goes from bed to bed, thinking later that she must be a princess or someone of similar rank. The radio is always on, and Arn listens for news about the war in Cambodia, hoping that one day it will be safe enough that he can go home and look for his family. Arn hears the Khmer Rouge in his head, announcing that...