Book Margin
The book: Eden’s copy of Persuasion by Jane Austen
I have my dad’s eyes. He said my mom’s favorite book was Persuasion, and that’s why my middle name is ‘Persuasion’. But I don’t think it’s right for him to call me ‘Pet’. Or for him to forbid me to eat gum.
Gum is awesome.
I’d better scratch that out, in case he sees it.
And the part about my name.
And this part.
Actually, you know what? I think I need to tear the whole page out and then burn it in the fireplace—I hate destroying books, but I can’t afford having Dad read these lines. No, wait, scratch that. Literally. He’s searched in the fireplace before, so it’s not safe. Hmm.
I know. I’ll flush it down the toilet.
It will be as if these thoughts never existed.
But I’ll know they did. No one else will know, no one except me.
But my copy of Persuasion will always be missing a page, and I’ll know I wrote my thoughts in the margin. I once thought these things, and I wrote them down. They were real. They will not be erased from my brain like they will be erased from this page.
That’s something at least, I guess.