I am locked into the mirror and there is no door out.

I shake my head. I pick up the rake and start making the dead-leaf pile neater. A blister pops and stains the rake handle like a tear. Dad nods and walks to the Jeep, keys jangling in his fingers. A mockingbird lands on a low oak branch and scolds me. I rake the leaves out of my throat. Me: "Can you buy some seeds? Flower seeds?

I don't say anything and I feel awful. I tell somebody and I feel worse. I'm having trouble finding a middle ground.

Grandma frowned and yelled something in Russian. She could have been saying, 'Open up, your best friend is here.' On the other hand, it could have been, 'America is a great country because of canned ravioli.

Can the plural possessive express the feelings in your heart? If you don't learn art now, you will never learn to breathe!

It's easier to floss with barbed wire than admit you like someone in middle school.

The stuffing/puking/stuffing/puking/stuffing/puking didn't make her skinny, it made her cry.