• They never tell you innocence can kill you.

    It’s just something you learn on your own.

    A little girl grabbing candy from a stranger. Allowing him to take her away.

    Believing promises, trusting nature…

    Each time there are disappointments.

    Cracks in the wall.

    And the thing about cracks is,

    They just keep getting bigger.

    July, that summer, was hotter than it should have been. I sat on my front porch, waiting, even though I sweat to an unattractive state. I believed, just as I had believed that man so many years before, that this boy would fulfill his promises. He would come to my house, he would watch movies with me, he would have fun with me.

    My therapist said, “This is good.”

    Trusting people. This is good.

    And when I saw his beat up truck park in my driveway, I was relieved.

    Finally, things could be okay.

    Finally, things could be normal and safe.

    He smiled. He held my hand. He followed me inside.

    We watched a movie. We ate popcorn.

    He asked when my parents would be home.

    Not until later. Much later.

    We have plenty of time.

    He smiled. He held my hand. He followed me up to my room.

    We kissed. We cuddled.

    I almost fell asleep.

    Then I felt something around my neck.

    Thin, burning, suffocating.

    It dragged me backward, off my bed, across my room.

    The carpet burned my frantic legs.

    It pulled me upward, floating. My feet no longer touched the floor.

    Swing…

    He smiled. He held my hands. He kissed my cheek.

    Swing…

    They never tell you innocence can kill you.

    Swing...

    It’s just something you learn on your own.

    Swing…