“I like to paint where I live.” No discussion. She proceeds to fill the second bedroom with her art supplies. “Can you hand me that lamp?” she says. I don’t move. Stand in the doorway. Watch my sister take over the space where I live. I hug myself. Posture, a protest. Silence, speaking volumes. She looks up. “We can share the other bedroom.” “What, sleep in the same bed?” “Yeah, well, it’s a double mattress. Plus, we’ve done it before.” “We were children then!” Me, escaping. She, pursuing, “When I love someone, I want to crawl right under their skin.”
Cheryl Snell's books include poetry and fiction. Her most recent work is the series called Intricate Things in their Fringed Peripheries. Facebook: Cheryl.Snell