"Soundless as a Shadow I stay in my room all evening.Drawing any sort of attentionto myself would be an enormousmistake. Shh! Turn off the music.Ever now and again, Daddy leaves his own room, on a Turkeyhunt. Staccato footsteps accompanyhis muttered threa...
I remember it like it happened yesterday even though it actually happened 8 years ago. I was 10 years old--almost--and I was scared. It had been almost 2 years since the Zoo and Stepmonster was having fun reliving that fateful day. I waited until I knew h...
I lay on my bed, still in my back-from-the-hospital garb. Doc Davies' instructions were "no strenuous or overly stressful activity for a few weeks, okay Missy?" I just kind of nodded and kept my snarky (and honestly rather bitchy considering how kind he's...
Ah, what is that bright light? …Where am I? My eyes open to white walls and Mother staring down at me. Her eyes are cold, like always, but as my eyes flutter open she puts on a forced cheerful smile—showing me there’s someone else in the room and that I...
“Thank you.” It’s a whisper and from right behind me. I turn to find Evangeline walking away from the kid whose locker is to my left. Adam… And he was talking to Ange? Why? “Philena—” I shut my locker and turn to him. My eyes, though dull in color, burn w...
I don’t head home; I just head to another park. This one’s even farther from where Evangeline lives, so there’s no way she’ll follow me here and, even if this park is closer to home, there’s no way my “parents” will find me… it’s the weekend, they never l...
Ange kisses up my neck, nibbling a little as she does so, and I know she feels me squirm. “Why what, Phi-Phi?” “Please don’t call me that. Just call me Philena.” We walk over to the table I was at and sit down next to each other. I set down the painting I...
Weekends at the house aren’t normal weekends where the teenager sleeps in and the parents leave her alone, then tease her with, “Oh my gosh, it’s alive!” when she finally wakes up around noon or one in the afternoon. No, weekends here I get up at about 7:...
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Lying in bed tonight, I pull my sketchbook out from under the bed and open it to a blank page. I have to be real sure that He’s not going to come anywhere near here that way He won’t know I’m drawing—or He’ll both take everything away and garbage my work...
I enter the doors to my high school, a senior. First day back to school and apparently I'm supposed to be shrieking and crying like an idiot, going, "Oh my God I haven't seen you since... two days ago!" to all my friends... wait, what friends? But instead...
You joined Alexa for a while. I saw you in the halls with the Pinheaded football players we used to laugh about. You mostly ignored me the first half of sophomore year, and, surprisingly, so did the Blonde Squad. That all changed right around finals time...
pouty lips twinkling eyes years ago you gave me butterflies... You walked up to me at out middle school. I'd had quite a crush on you since a couple years before. Your lips were peachy pink, moist because you'd just licked them nervously. Your eyes were s...
"Everything wasn't okay..." -Losing Grip by Avril LavigneI walked into the room and you walked out. I hugged you and you stiffened, I kissed you and your lips were frozen. It was like when you were on that one assignment for months and we couldn't be seen...
I've walked past this dining room many times. When I was seven, I walked past it, out the door and to the car. We were headed to the hospital to see my Daddy. Mother didn't say at the time, but I know now that he was dying and I was leaving to say goodbye...
