While my stepfather and his teenage son preen like peacocks and bellow know-it-all slurs, Mom unloads countless boxes. I step away from the sticky summer heat and windbag squalls and discover a crawlspace in the laundry room closet. I crouch and climb over cleaning supplies, leaving the door ajar to cushion darkness. In cool air, I sit undisturbed with my dreams in the belly of our abode. Footsteps creak overhead on the stairs. Muffled voices rise and fall. In this sanctum, I bask undetected, on nobody’s radar, hoping that later, Mom’s devoted hands will mend our holes and fallen hems.
Fall Contest Editor’s Pick. The sensory details of NEW HOME impressed me, and I was taken with the idea of “away” interpreted both as “into” and “away from.” I felt myself pulled into the closet/safe space along with Bella, not only physically, but emotionally as well.—SB
Bella Mahaya Carter, an award-winning author of three books, facilitates online writing circles for writers, artists, healers, and seekers. www.bellamahayacarter.com Instagram: @bellamahayacarter