The old man's laugh grips her skull and rattles it. She's never heard anything like it. Never seen a man dissolve into smoke, into wings, into a noise. Carolina looks wildly around, shoving gunpowder and bullets back into her satchel and swinging it over her shoulder. This is a tactful retreat, she tells herself. The deer isn't worth it.
Not when little fingers hold fast the sleeve of Carolina's jacket and pull her into memories better left to mud and crematory ash. The her who used to think things could be fixed so long as she acted a certain way. Performed to the best of her abilities. If she could make him proud, then maybe he wouldn't be so sad. So obsessed with whatever it is he kept in his desk. Whatever he locked away in the house that suddenly stopped feeling like her own. Flowerbeds turned muddy and lifeless. Doors closed. Empty chairs.
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The old man's laugh grips her skull and rattles it. She's never heard anything like it. Never seen a man dissolve into smoke, into wings, into a noise. Carolina looks wildly around, shoving gunpowder and bullets back into her satchel and swinging it over her shoulder. This is a tactful retreat, she tells herself. The deer isn't worth it.
Not when little fingers hold fast the sleeve of Carolina's jacket and pull her into memories better left to mud and crematory ash. The her who used to think things could be fixed so long as she acted a certain way. Performed to the best of her abilities. If she could make him proud, then maybe he wouldn't be so sad. So obsessed with whatever it is he kept in his desk. Whatever he locked away in the house that suddenly stopped feeling like her own. Flowerbeds turned muddy and lifeless. Doors closed. Empty chairs.
You're running away?
The voice isn't her's.
Yes. Yes, she's running away.
The deer isn't worth it.