If I Come Back I Want To Be a Hammer

If I come back another time I want to be a hammer I told my mother. She rolled her eyes. She thought I was being ridiculous. She could not fathom any better life than our life. We held up houses, we held up bridges, we held up buildings. There is nothing more admirable than being a nail, she said. I noticed she winced as the hammer was pounding her into a bridge. But she did not scream. Nails never scream.