Wrapped for Winter

It mattered to us because she took the task seriously— protecting us from cold, hoping for a little peace inside the house, and we understood both.

Wildlings at the Fire

We’d dance like wildlings around the flame— chanting, poking, laughing, fierce with purpose, alive with that edge of danger we so loved.

All was pristine white because their purity was kept like that— as much as the quiet, private world they shared.

my siblings and I would seek out the molehills to stomp on the needle ice— a strange and wondrous phenomenon.

It was from the cruise ship gift shop— he never left the boat.

Kid laws are far different from adult laws. Mix the two, and that’s called trauma.

But I never forgot that warning sound, how it chilled my blood, and how I froze like prey to it.

My ornament hung proud from a string where she was pinned to dry.

I learned there are different ways to bring warmth in when there is no light.

Soon enough he had me shaking that magic globe, spilling out questions faster than I could accept its answers.