Good Different

by Meg Eden Kuyatt

Even though I have friends and act like it’s fine, deep, deep down, I really wish somewhere I could be fully me, where I could relax and not feel like a freak—

I stuffed my feelings into my chest like used tissues.

It’s like the neighbors are partying inside my head, like they’ve picked the lock to my body and are walking inside me with their muddy shoes. It’s the worst feeling in the world.

Pop’s the one person who gets me, says “we’re cut from the same cloth,” like we’re two matching button-down shirts

If only Cleo knew just how many feelings I have bubbling inside me like lava.

What if it gets worse and worse until I become all dragon no girl and set fire to my life?

If I’ve learned something in my time on this earth, it’s that if you don’t stand up for yourself, no one else will.

“I don’t like the word ‘wrong’ being used the same way as ‘different.’ ‘Wrong’ should be used when we’re talking about morals, not when we’re trying to blend in with everyone else.

I always thought I was part of the Pebblecreek family but maybe you’re only part of the Pebblecreek family if you’re able to be just like everyone else.

All I care about are dragons and drawing dragons and writing poems because dragons don’t care if you think they’re weird or not. Dragons fly wherever they want to go; no one can stop them. And poems make me feel like a dragon.

Autism is a word I’ve heard before but it’s never been said like it’s a good thing. People say “autism” the same way they say things like “cancer.” But the more I read, the more I realize autism can be and look like lots of things. That’s why it’s called a spectrum.

Pop said we’re in a world not built for us, a neurotypical world. People like us are dragons with clipped wings, but like Toothless with his prosthetic tail fin, we still find so many ways to fly