[00:00.00]so we would't have to move each year.
[00:03.44]And our house would have running water
[00:05.80]and pipes that worked.
[00:07.53]And inside it would have real stairs,
[00:10.03]like the houses on TV.
[00:12.61]And we'd have a basement and at least three
[00:15.32]washrooms,so when we took a bath
[00:17.75]we wouldn't have to tell everybody.
[00:20.77]Our house would be white with trees around it,
[00:23.55]a great big yard and grass growing
[00:26.04]without a fence.
[00:27.92]This was the house Papa talked about
[00:30.32]when he held a lottery ticket,
[00:32.43]and this was the house Mama dreamed up
[00:34.58]in the stories she told us
[00:36.10]before we went to bed.
[00:38.53]But the house on Mango Street
[00:40.62]is not the way they desribed it at all.
[00:43.57]It's small and red with narrow steps in front,
[00:47.49]and windows so small you'd think
[00:49.37]they were holding their breath.
[00:51.58]There is no front yard,only four little trees
[00:54.94]the city planted on the side of the street.
[00:57.79]Out back is a small garage for the car
[01:00.48]we don't own yet,and a small yard
[01:03.05]that looks smaller between the two buildings
[01:05.22]on either side.
[01:07.12]There are stairs in the house,
[01:09.03]but they're ordinary stairs,
[01:11.25]and the house has only one washroom.
[01:14.51]Everybody has to share a bedroom.Mama and Papa,
[01:18.71]Carlos and Kiki,me and Nenny.
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