—ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE

 

Shattered

The weather in Mom’s eyes looked crooked again so Dad took me out in the fields to learn how to be a man. The rifle stood nearly as tall and heavy as me. A doe munching a bush stopped in mid chew and stared back at us looking stupid but curious. Pull Dad whispered though the deer wouldn’t move so I didn’t either. 

That night Dad shot an arrow through the window in his underwear. I could hear thunder coming from Mom’s eyes through her flimsy bedroom door. I would have knocked but my trigger finger had been shattered like a bolt of lightning that wasn’t going anywhere.