This is the story of a girl who
Picked apart her small-town childhood
Surrounded by mountains and solitude
To settle in a summer-city on a lake
To make her family happy

But before I tell that story
You need to know she is numb
And distantly aware
And wants more than anything
To not be a disappointment

Sure, there’s the part where
She drew into herself
With her nose in a book
Searching for happy endings
But that comes later

Yes, eventually she wondered if
She was a good friend and
Started avoiding people
To protect them from herself
But that comes later

There’s the part in the night when
She swore up and down to her mother
That she’d hold it together
Until she was nineteen
But that comes much later

There might even be a part
Where she can’t even breathe
And she closes her eyes
So if she dies her family doesn't have to
But that comes near the end.

h.f.m.