Gravity

You are not bound by gravity, my son.

Midnight, finger tapping my shoulder.

Fortress under my blankets. Helpless tears slip down his cheeks.

“They hate me, Momma,” he whispers, voice cracking. What can I say to that?

You are not bound by gravity, my son.

“Why am I so weird?” His question is broken, tentative. Saying it aloud makes it more real than it was before.

“Some people are just born different, baby.”

“Are you different, Momma?” What an innocent question.

“Yes,” I say, voice sticking. So I repeat myself. “Yes, I am.”

But we are not bound by gravity.

From Guest Contributor Tirzah Blazis

Tirzah is a high school senior who takes dual enrollment classes at Pikes Peak Community College.

Reunion

Imagining their reunion had helped her do unspeakable things since the Collapse. The cold night crystallized her tears. Others might mistake the flicker on the mountainside for a twinkling star, but she knew it’s a candle burning in the window--their sign. Don’t worry baby, she thought, Momma’s coming.

By daybreak, she had reached their cabin. Its warmth draped itself around her like a blanket. Wiping her shoes on the mat (force of habit) a small thing flew out of a cupboard and pinned itself to her legs. “Mummy! I missed you!” David emerged; his face already crumpled with emotion.

From Guest Contributor Carla Halpin