~peanut~
My shoe hits the floor. bang! Like a shot magnified to the hundredth degree, it sounds in my ears. I try to keep myself from shaking but my fingers tremble as I undo the tangled knots of my shoe laces.
My brother, Ian, is playing on the ground at my feet. He didn’t pay attention to the gun shot slap of my sneaker on the wood. He didn’t hear it. His lips move, sounds of the race track spring out, a car vrooming. The race noises are just as loud as the laughter outside that my mother and other brother are creating.
Just through the open window to my right they are standing, raking the autumn leaves that have danced gracefully down into a haphazard pile. I can see the little hill of foliage shuttering as the wind tries to blow it down, huffing and puffing until it falters.
Out of the leaves and into the air springs River, my oldest brother at twelve. I can hear the shriek of my mother mingle with his as he leaps at her. I push the shrill sound to the back of my mind; I’ve heard it before.
The Ghosts whisper words, red as blood and they paint the inside of my eyelids when I squeeze them tight. Whispers of shadows and killing seas fill my ears and thoughts, drowning out the laughter with fear.
That is why I am leaving.
