Together We Rot

by Skyla Arndt

People aren’t like that. They’re more like flowers. If you don’t tend to them, they’ll shrivel and die and leave you with nothing in the end.

That’s what a group of butterflies are called. A kaleidoscope. I’ve always loved that.

Other people know to draw back when they touch a flame. I only know how to walk through the coals.

“Mercy isn’t the idle moments between rage. It isn’t just the absence of pain.”

Mom said dark thoughts were ships passing in the night. You can choose to watch them go. You don’t need to sail away with each one.

I am Elwood, born to the soil and frost, destined to give my heart to these trees. I am home.