warm outside. These children looked as though they had dressed in a hurry. But if they came from somewhere else, where were their suitcases?

“What do they want?” I asked my mother.

“They have come to ask for your father’s help,” she replied. “Unless we help, they may be killed or taken away by some bad men.”

Some of the children held on tightly to the hands of their fathers, some clung to their mothers. One little girl sat on the ground, crying.

I felt like crying, too. “Father,” I said, “please help them.”

My father stood quietly next to me, but I knew he saw the children. Then some of the men in the crowd began climbing over the fence. Borislav and Gudje, two young men who worked for my father, tried to keep the crowd calm.

My father walked outside. Peering through the curtains, I saw him standing on the steps. Borislav translated what my father said: He asked the crowd to choose five people to come inside and talk.

Critical Viewing: Effect How do you think the people in this image feel? How does the artist create this mood?