Structure

The short story “Home Is Not Here” by Laura Blake has a non-linear structure. The story switches back and forth between the current narrative where Birdie is meeting with S. Jenkins, an immigration officer and flashbacks to Birdie’s childhood. The story is also heavily centered on the conflict Birdie has with the immigration officer, as well as around Birdie’s inner conflict, as she does not want to be sent back to a country she no longer considers her home, but does not know what to say to defend herself.

The story starts in medias res as Birdie is in the waiting room before her meeting: 

Birdie Brown sat in a plastic chair and stared at the clock on the wall […]. The letter in her handbag warned that lateness would not be tolerated, but she had been kept waiting for sixty slow minutes and frustration had supplanted the fear that had sat heavy in her belly ever since the rahted summons ha...