Kirsten Vangsness
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
She is alternately elated and sad because she cannot tell them where she has been.
But her desire to fly is still not satisfied.
One night, when the children sleep, she tiptoes into their room.
She moves past the bunk beds where the boys breathe in unison and across the floor to her daughter.
Allie pauses at the foot of the single bed, studying the pattern of light and shadow cast by the aspen tree outside the window.
She looks out the window into the backyard.
The orange crate shimmers in the middle of the lawn.
Allie isn't sure if what she does next is right or how to calculate the risk.
She lifts her sleeping daughter into her arms.
The child is heavy, her breath warm on Allie's face.
The child murmurs through the thickness of sleep.
But you must promise not to tell the boys.