پنج بخشی

FIVE SYLLABLES

A MONTH LATER, just after Christmas, his dad moves away, too. Through my window I watch him carry just a few boxes to a U-Haul truck. I hope against hope that he’s not going to wherever Olly and Kara and their mom are.

For days after I stare at the house, wondering how it can still manage to look the same, to seem so solid and house-like when there’s no one around to make it a home.

I wait another couple of days before finally reading the e-mails that Olly has sent. They’re still in the trash folder, as I knew they would be.

From: genericuser033

To: Madeline F. Whittier Subject: limerick 1

Sent: October 16, 8:07 PM once was a girl named madeline speared my heart through with a javelin said i as i died

(just as an aside)

are there more words that rhyme with madeline?

From: genericuser033

To: Madeline F. Whittier Subject: limerick 2

Sent: October 17, 8:03 PM once lived a girl in a bubble who i suspected was nothing but trouble still i gave her my heart but she blew it apart

and left me with nothing but rubble I laugh until I cry. He must’ve been really upset with me to send me limericks instead of haiku.

His other e-mails are less poetic. He tells me about trying to convince his mom to get some help and about trying to save Kara from herself. He’s not sure which conversation with his mom finally convinced her. It could’ve been because he told her he couldn’t be part of the family anymore if she stayed. Sometimes you have to leave the people who love you the most, he said. Or, he says, it could’ve been when he finally told her about me and about how sick I am and how I was willing to do anything just to live. He says that she thinks I’m brave.