*Eric*
I want to hold her forever.
Hattie buries her face in my chest, arms locked around me like she’s afraid I’ll vanish again. And part of me wants to vanish, to be invisible, so that I don’t have to speak the words that will break hearts.
But the moment doesn’t last—
“No….”
The word is barely a whisper, riding on a breath of disbelief. Mrs. Monroe is standing on her porch, her apron stained rusty blood red. Her hands are full of rags and bandages. Her voice grows louder as she steps forward, a kind of dread rising like smoke from a fire. She drops the linens, takes off running, and by the time she reaches me, she is screaming.
“No! No! No! No!”
Each word is a blow…. By the last one, she has nothing left and submits to the pain of reality.
Hattie steps aside to give us space. M
