A teacher who asked her third grade pupils to write about how they spent their spring break holiday.

"We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma
and Grandpa. They used to live here in a big brick house, but
Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Arizona. Now they live in a place
with a lot of other retarded people. They live in a tin box and
have rocks painted green to look like grass. They ride around on big
tricycles and wear name tags because they don't know who they are
anymore.

They go to a building called a wrecked center, but
they must have got it fixed, because it is all right now. They play
games and do exercises there, but they don't do them very well. There is
a swimming pool too, but they jump up and down in it with their
hats on. I guess they don't know how to swim.

At their gate, there is a doll house with a little
old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape.
Sometimes they sneak out. Then they go cruising in their golf carts.

My Grandma used to bake cookies and stuff, but I
guess she forgot how. Nobody there cooks, they just eat out And they eat
the same thing every night: 'Early Birds'. Some of the people
can't get past the man in the doll house to go out. So, the ones who do
get out bring food back to the wrecked center and call it pot luck.

My Grandma says Grandpa worked all his life to earn
his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded
someday too. When I earn my retardment I want to be the man in the doll
house. Then I will let people out so they can visit their grandchildren."