A Dark and Twisting Road by Melody Taylor

Author:Melody Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Melody Taylor
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Talk Therapy

“How you feeling today?” Dad set a deck of cards on the coffee table and sat down across from Alexa.

She shrugged and picked the deck up. “Okay. I wanted to go for a walk, but I didn’t.”

John nodded. “How come?”

“I worry about going out alone.”

“Are you afraid They’ll come after you?”

Alexa nodded and shuffled the cards. She didn’t want to play cards, but having something to do made it easier to talk about things that made her uncomfortable.

“You know you can’t always have someone with you. What are you going to do when you graduate?”

She lifted one shoulder.

John sat back in his chair, letting Alexa deal. “Maybe we could try immersion therapy?”

“What’s that?”

“I’ve only heard of it. I guess it involves taking someone who’s afraid of something and forcing them to deal with it all at once. Like taking someone who’s afraid of spiders and putting them in a little room full of spiders.”

Alexa shuddered. “How would you do that with someone who’s afraid to go outside alone?”

John shifted a little in his chair, then pulled a glossy color brochure out of his back pocket. He set it on the coffee table beside the discard pile. Alexa leaned forward to look at it. “Confidence, self-esteem, fun!” read a small banner across the top. The pictures showed outdoor scenes: people around campfires, gathering berries, a tan and weather-worn woman speaking seriously to a small group. The pictures intrigued Alexa until two words caught her eyes. “Survivalist training.” She wrinkled her nose and looked up at her father.

“Part of the training involves taking people out for a night alone in the woods,” he said.

Sweat broke out on Alexa’s palms just thinking about that. She shook her head vehemently. “No. No way. And did you see this? Survivalist training? What kind of nut-jobs go to this place?”

John leaned forward to look at the spot Alexa tapped with her finger. He sat back without saying anything. Then he sighed.

“I don’t know if it’s survivalist training like you’re thinking. It’s more about how to make shelter and find food, and I know how much you love the woods and camping. Look at the top, confidence and self-esteem, and the whole immersion therapy thing is supposed to help –”

“No way!”

“Okay, okay.” John made calming gestures. “It was just a thought. I heard about immersion therapy on some talk show and I thought I’d suggest it, that’s all.”

Alexa shuddered again, but she believed her dad. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “Survivalist camp? You thought I’d like going to survivalist camp?”

He looked away. “Your mom asked me to talk to you about it. I still don’t think it’s quite what you’re thinking, but if you don’t want to go, you don’t have to go.”

There wasn’t anything else to say to that, so she didn’t. Her dad laid a card that wasn’t a very good play. Alexa didn’t call him on it. She played her own card and saw it wasn’t very good either once she’d set it down.

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