It began when the leaves began to turn with a phone call from my mom at 3am.
~
When I was little I would ask to talk to my Granny on the phone every day. I'd dial the numbers carefully and she'd laugh at me breathing into the handset before we'd launch into our special language which my mother called 'gibberish.' Mom didn't understand me the way Granny did.
~
The call was my mom 500 miles away, angry and drunk. Through the garbel and slurs I realized that Granny...

gabrielle22

Bookend pieces. As different as could be. Now if I could just find the Center

Mister Jones

It hit my system like a freight train

Euphoria

Losing sleep, Losing weight

Ignoring the jibber jabber of my brain
More and further
That sweet bliss followed by a hard drop
angsty waiting for that next sweet nothing
logic flying away

snap

What happened to my balance?
...

gabrielle22

I can take it.

I’m a tough girl.

Until that moment when I realize

Too much or

Not enough

Cracks start to show

Nerves are frayed

I’ve gone too far

I haven’t gone far enough

It’s been too long

My control is gone

I’ve been so good at this balance thing

Until I’m not.

I need my brain to stop

Good...

gabrielle22

I have a difficult time accepting the simplest compliment.

This is one of those childhood holdovers. If an achievement was made it was generally not lauded. To me this was a good thing. Being noticed in my house sometimes had dire effects.

As a teenager I was incredibly shy and tried to blend in as much as possible. I spent a lot of my time in the library.

I started getting my first compliments as an adult. While yes..I love them..on the other hand I...

gabrielle22

When I was 15, my boyfriend of the time and I found this public playground that no one was ever at. We used to go there and swing and talk. We had several teasing conversations about having sex there but never followed through. This is my adult fantasy version.

“Wear a dress with a thong underneath and meet me there at midnight” he said.

I puzzled over the directions.

It was an old park that was no longer maintained. I pulled into the parking lot next...

gabrielle22