NC EOG Practice Test 8

New Street

¹The moving truck rolled off at noon and left me on the curb, where every house wore the same beige coat and no one said a word.

²Back home, the block was a marching band: a screen door's bang, a bouncing ball, old Mr. Ellison's ballgame radio, and Ada calling me over the wall.

³Here, the quiet sits on every roof like snow that will not go. I walk past sixteen mailboxes, and no one says hello.

⁴On Tuesday, a girl two doors down was chalking a hopscotch track. She held a broken piece out to me, a blue as bright as a jay's back.

⁵We drew until the sidewalk bloomed with rockets, rivers, a crooked moon. Her grandpa brought out lemonade. Her little brother hummed a tune.

⁶Tonight a screen door bangs next door, a ball thumps once, and someone shouts, "Come play!" This street is not my old street yet, but it learns my name a little every day.