In the chap­ter titled “TEN,” Par­vana grap­ples with her deci­sion to join Shauzia in a pecu­liar and unset­tling task: dig­ging up bones to sell. Despite Parvana’s uncer­tain­ties about the moral­i­ty of their actions, she accom­pa­nies Shauzia to a grave­yard in Kab­ul, where destruc­tion from bombs has left the ground vul­ner­a­ble, expos­ing the bones of the dead.

The atmos­phere is grim as they arrive at the grave­yard, char­ac­ter­ized by piles of rub­ble and the stench of decay. Near­by, Par­vana learns about the bone bro­ker, who buys the bones they dig up. As they begin their work, Par­vana express­es her fear of encoun­ter­ing remains, but the neces­si­ty of earn­ing mon­ey over­shad­ows her con­cerns.

Togeth­er, they dig, unearthing bones—including skulls—which they humor­ous­ly adorn with the title of “mas­cot.” Their oper­a­tion is inter­rupt­ed by their need for bath­room breaks, dur­ing which Par­vana’s anx­i­ety about land mines sur­faces. Yet, she coura­geous­ly ven­tures into the poten­tial dan­ger, relieved to return unharmed.

As they work tire­less­ly through the after­noon, sun­light breaks through the clouds, illu­mi­nat­ing their unusu­al task. They reflect on the odd­i­ty of their sit­u­a­tion, vow­ing to remem­ber these days when they grow old­er. Their cama­raderie strength­ens as they make mon­ey akin to what Par­vana earns in three days, but they decide to con­ceal the full extent of their earn­ings from their fam­i­lies, opt­ing to stash away part of their prof­its.

Their day con­cludes with plans to return for more dig­ging the next day. Yet, the phys­i­cal act of dig­ging up bones weighs heav­i­ly on Par­vana’s mind, as she tries to wash away the mem­o­ries of their grim endeav­or before return­ing home.

This chap­ter encap­su­lates the harsh real­i­ties faced by the chil­dren in the wake of war, repur­pos­ing death for sur­vival, and high­lights themes of friend­ship, resilience, and the loss of child­hood inno­cence. Parvana’s strug­gle sym­bol­izes a deep con­flict between neces­si­ty and moral­i­ty in a world rav­aged by con­flict.