Things got very fast like racing on a speeding train
or super slow motion like a movie reel and deathly
still – all revved up, heart pounding, I’d run around
in small circles or lie very still on the couch and hold
on to the cushions with my fists clenched and watch
the room spin. Three hours alone at age five is a
whopping long time. I’d make up games and sing. No
TV. Too young to read to myself. Mom was a health nut,
so no sugar in the house – only raisins. I’d stand on
the kitchen counter to reach the Fred Flintstone’s –
sweet and chalky – first one, then two, then five.
Time to go visit the nosey old witch upstairs who had
Chips Ahoy! cookies. Our game was one juicy detail
about my mom for sugar. Learning how to lie was easy.

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