A Short List Explaining Why

I’m An Okay Person

Kat L’Esperance-Stokes

 

Nana, my first dog. Cheerios. Hannibal, my first cat. He had two tongues and six toes on each paw. Mom painting. Mrs. Sparling, my kindergarten teacher. She’s prayed. “Hannibal isn’t dead he’s sleeping,” “No mom he’s dead,” Grace Chapel. Stiff pants. Collared shirts. Clean mouth. Multigrain Cheerios. Soap! Hands. Sit up. Dad’s home. “He can’t go into work anymore,” Different books for different rooms. Adventure Zone Bible. Face cleanser. Fox News. History lectures at the kitchen/dining/homework table. Hands. First radio. History Channel. “Nothing goes on top of the Bible,” “But my stuff will fall,” “No it won’t,” “But Mrs. Wright gravity,” “Nothing goes on top of the Bible.” Adventure Zone Bible but with the spine cracked. His hands. Is this an okay place for hands to be? “Have you accepted God into your heart as your lord and savior?” Library books. Cool Math Games. Poptropica. He taught me how to crack my bones. Zoey 101. Soggy Cheerios. Library books overdue. Ned Declassified. Percy Jackson and the Olympians. He taught me how to crack my knuckles. Harry Potter. Bras. “Are you sure you want to wear something that short?” “It’s hot. What the worst that can happen?” His hands again. His hands again. “Oh, him? He’s like a brother to me,” His hands are cold. He lifted me up to teach me how to crack my spine. He lifted me up where the underwire meshed with my ribs. Is this an okay place for hands to be? He taught me how to crack my bones.

 

Kat L’Esperance-Stokes was born in Santa Monica during a lightning storm. After, she fell in love with folklore, horror, and the concept of home. Find her in Vermont for school or on Instagram and Twitter @katliswriting.