Mom found it doing laundry. My lungs seized watching her pull the evidence from my pocket. Cold prickles of sweat crossed my neck. Each second felt like an explosion. She’d soon know I’d gone where she told me not to go. Too many college kids, she said. You’re too young, she said. At ten, I was smart enough to lie, scheme and get on campus, but apparently not smart enough to empty my pockets. I tried to guess how long I’d be grounded as she slowly unrolled the T-shirt printed with the name of my forbidden escapade: MSU Writers’ Workshop.
Novelist Betsy Ellor runs Words Unbound Studio, which recently published the anthology Heroic Care. When not writing she hikes and battles prehistoric mosquitoes in the woods of Massachusetts. Find Betsy on Twitter @bewordsunbound and on Instagram @betsy_ellor_words_unbound.