Alex > Recent Status Updates

“My voice sounds creaky, unused, like bats might fly out of my mouth.”

“After, Toby and I camp out on the living room floor, listening to Bailey's music, poring over countless photo albums, basically blowing our hearts to smithereens.”

“-and we all plod into the kitchen like a three-headed, six-legged, ten-ton sack of sad”

“He looks from Toby to me . “No way out of this but through … for any of us.” He says it like Moses, so we both nod as if we’ve been bestowed with a great wisdom.”

“the indisputable fact that springtime has shoved off it’s raincoat today and is just prancing around—it makes me queasy, like the world has already forgotten what’s happened to us.”

“I want to be back in the sanctum, full name: The Inner Pumpkin Sanctum-“

“I wonder why bereaved people even bother with mourning clothes when grief itself provides such an unmistakable wardrobe.”

“For days and days, the rain beats it’s fists on the roof of our house— evidence of the terrible mistake God had made.

and was relieved that at least the sun had the decency to stay the hell away from us.”

“I nod, willing away the runaway train of grief barreling straight for me”

“-but then all of a sudden the breath is kicked out of me and i’m shoved onto the cold hard concrete floor of my life now, because i can’t run home after school and tell Bails about a new boy in band. My sister dies over and over again, all day long.”

“This is Northern California after all—the final frontier of freakerdom.

“My first day back to school is just as expect, the hall does a Red Sea part when I come in, conversations hush, eyes swim with nervous sympathy, and everyone stares as if i’m holding Bailey’s dead body in my arms, which i guess i am. Her death is all over me, i can feel it and everyone can see it, plain as a big black coat wrapped around me on a beautiful spring day”

“It’s as if someone vacuumed up the horizon while we were looking the other way.”

“I glance up. They’re still peering at me, a tall duet of sorrow and concern

“She’s asking this of Uncle Big: arborist, resident pothead, and mad scientist to boot”