When she..._Ratebook_Callused_The Fox's Scream
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When she...
When she was five, she peeled away the tissue paper, and could feel the power of the package. The dress was a sleeveless powder blue with wisps of white in the fabric and the most intricate butterfly buttons. “If you are ever frightened, you can close your eyes and the butterflies will fly you away. When you feel safe again, they will bring you home” grandma whispered in her ear. “I think you should wear it to your first day of kindergarten.”The girl smiled and nodded her agreement. The dread of the approaching first day melting away like a dream after waking. She ran to her bedroom to t...
Ratebook
“No, it’s Ji-wi-an,” Jillian repeated herself to the beady-eyed woman sitting behind the glass at the county clerk’s office. “That’s what I said, Ma’am,” the woman gazed up at Jillian, revealing her irritation, “Jiwian Wester.”Jillian heard two little girls behind her giggle, clearly eavesdropping on her conversation. She turned around to see what-must-be their mother, grinning at her, not stopping her daughters from ogling at Jillian. She felt like a circus act. Jillian felt her eyes well-up in tears. “Ji-wi-an Wester. Not Jiwian Wester!” She started to feel her quivery voice raise and began...
Callused
My hands ain’t bled since I turned five years old, and my brothers all followed my lead. Bobby’s stopped ‘round six, Colton was ‘bout seven, even Dusty’s hands was hard as a rock by the time he turned eight. But Emma’s hands didn’t callous ‘til she turned eleven. Papa says it’s because Emma’s a girl, and she’s got different obligations than us boys do, but she and I both know her being a girl’s got nothin’ to do with it. See, ‘round here, you don’t get a meal in front of you if you don’t work for it. Age don’t matter and sex don’t matter. All that matters is if you do your job, don’t talk back...
The Fox's Scream
Susie shook her little flashlight desperately as it flickered and went out. The battery must have died. Hiding deep under her covers, she had been about to escape to the Shire with Bilbo, her current literary hero. She didn’t dare turn on her bedroom light in case her mother noticed. Her mother had a habit of going outside to look up at Susie’s window to make sure her light was out. If it was on, her mother was liable to barge into the bedroom, followed by Hank who would be trying to calm her down. Depending on her state of intoxication, she might snatch the book away, knowing that this was th...