8. SHADOWS KNOW WHERE ALL THE LIGHT IS
SHADOWS KNOW WHERE ALL THE LIGHT IS
Fathers are like ghosts. Gone for months, returning with stories from the road. Olivia likes to imagine him driving cows across the country and freeing them by the sea.
According to Olivia, if you follow twisting foot trails in dirt, you will most certainly find fairies. The gnomes with little vests and red pointed hats live under the house. The ghosts in long white ballgowns live in the clouds. The grackles will laugh with you. The crows will laugh at you.
If you laugh too much, you get into trouble.
If you don’t smile at all, you get into trouble.
If you follow mommy around, she locks the door in your face and tells you to go outside.
If you follow mommy around, she hides her crying by making you clean up the broken glass she’s strewn across the floor.
A mother is an unpredictable lightning storm. Sometimes, she will say nothing to you all day, and sometimes she’s sweet in her own way.
If you follow mommy around, you’re like a shadow.
Shadows know where all the best hiding spots are.
Shadows know where all the light is. Shadows know how to stay quiet until they have to burst. When they explode, they’re made of pink flower petals that float up, up, up, until they have no choice but to scatter back down to the earth like confetti.