In Ascension

by Martin MacInnes

They weren’t the first family to have a distant father with anger issues. A couple of times she’d sensed that Leigh was alluding to violence. This surprised her. She didn’t remember any of this; nothing out of the ordinary, anyway. So Geert occasionally slapped them lightly. This was just what fathers did back then. It certainly hadn’t been excessive, not as she remembers it. Leigh’s smile suggested she knew something Helena didn’t, and these are the only moments she can recall of her sister displaying a superior attitude towards her. As if her experiences privileged her to something Helena could never understand. She wishes she’d told her to just let go. Leigh insisted on letting her childhood define her. The proof of an alternative was right there in front of her – Helena – and Leigh always resented this.