A fragment hinted. Suddenly vivid. Now visits. Memory erodes what could have been happiness. I’ve seen that staircase before, the light on the landing. Down the hall, behind a closed door, whispers become shouts. Dead pets pervade the carpet. I turn around and it’s the window and the back yard, which shrank by increments as I grew older. I sacrificed bits of innocence each day. Eventually someone noticed.
Copyright 1994, held by author