Issue: <span>March 2019</span>
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Sun Blotches and Angelic Smiles
Everybody in my family has different hands. Mine are light brown with weaving veins, like rivers flowing through a desert. Curvy lines streak across the surface of my palm, bards silently singing the story of my life.
My sister’s hands are smooth and innocent, round knuckles jutting out when she curls them into a fist, the nostrils of her nose flaring with adorabl...
The fluorescent light of the classroom made it even harder to concentrate on the fine, black print that consisted of nothing but endless boredom. My mind tried to make sense of it. The book was written long ago; the 1800s? It reminded me of when a good friend of mine pretended to travel back in time with me. My nose wrinkled at the thought of her. I remembered Alice being fierce and stubborn.
There is an alien among us.
She has built a wall across her heart, one made of sheets so thick others do not see her. Until they realize—
An alien is here, an alien is here—there is the alien.
She tries to walk the halls in silence, tries to creep up to classrooms.
It works, and the alien is not noticed.
* * *
Homework.
Some days I am a girl.
On these days I like to giggle and play with toys. I wear bright blue clothes and shirts with cats on them. When I feel like a girl, my feelings change. I feel kind and happy. I like being a girl.
But . . .
There is a downside.
My heart is bigger than on other days. It becomes too big for my body. This causes my feelings to mix together, and that results in emotional drama.