This is Where We Talk Things Out

by Caitlin Marceau

“Why are you giving that bitch your time?” “That bitch is my mother, so watch your mouth.” “Sorry, why are you giving that bitch, your mother, your time? Better?”

And while Sylvie had a bad habit of extending poison ivy disguised as olive branches, Miller had a worse habit of accepting them.

But now they’re here, in this cabin turned mausoleum.

The uncanny feeling isn't helped by the fact that Miller is older and bigger now, and that the cabin’s bedroom is smaller than the one in her old home. It only lends itself to the feeling she has of being trapped in a child’s doll house.

I think you think you were a great mom, but you were selfish and you were mean and you made everything about you. Why the fuck do you think I cut you out? For fun?”

Her mother either fails to understand or chooses not to: it’s not that Miller is argumentative, she just stopped blindly agreeing with her mother; she hasn’t been ignoring her mother, she's just trying to live her own life; she didn’t cut her mother out, she just set boundaries.