My father is a handsome guy, or so I’ve heard. Mommy and daddy split, with just the white sheets left in between their lives. Some unimagined darkness spoke with accuracy. These were her gifts, that primal lesson. It is a beautiful and terrible fear; like I have been balancing on the edge. There are no jobs, and snakes inhabit my tent. I pretend, she pretends, we go out life pretending. When at the end the hero dies, the luxury of growing up is not given to me. She has been going bald, but what do I know? She is her mothers daughter. It would be a logical conclusion, but I never realized the emptiness.