The Sitter

The Sitter They rushed me in. I had no time to prepare. Talk they said. Entertain. We will not be... long, it was a song. Fear. My first response. Prayer, should have been. In the end, adrenalin and panic gave way to remembered moments with my own mother. Shadow puppets on the wall. A pen to draw... even more on hands... All laugh. All around. A telephone joke, that changes as it moves along. How silly? A single piece of paper, turned into a time machine for the fingers, and a rocket to the moon. Ripped apart a snowstorm. Torn apart... coconut strips to feed monkeys, in the far islands of Coco-mo. They left to have fun, but had no idea; that the real stuff was still at home. Funny faces, secrets, and whispers... whiskers on cats, and dogs that swim laps. Life is better here than there. The beginning, but never the end.