Crossing Stones by Helen Frost

Author:Helen Frost
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781466896352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

A Few Sentences Each Day

Muriel

Every afternoon (five days in a row now),

Ollie and I take a walk together—today

we follow Crabapple Creek all the way

to Reuben Lake, the rhythm of our steps

accompanied by small sounds of birds,

chipmunks, a family of raccoons, the crunch

of dry leaves, and, when we reach the lake,

the back-and-forth lament of a pair of loons.

Returning home along the road, Ollie

glances toward the school. What time

is it? he asks. One o’clock, I answer. Grace and Emma

won’t be out for two more hours. Ollie turns his face

away from me; he may be embarrassed

that I’ve guessed he’s thinking about Emma.

I don’t know if I’ll ever graduate, he says.

I can’t seem to think straight; my mind keeps

wandering back to things I don’t know how

to think about. A horse whinnies and comes over

to the fence; Ollie pulls up a handful of grass

and feeds him. Animals always seem to trust you,

I say. He nods and starts to speak, but

doesn’t. A shudder passes over him, and

we walk home in silence—not the kind where

two people are so comfortable that nothing

needs to be spoken, the kind where

something is trying to be said

and no one knows the words.

As soon as we get home, Ollie

goes into his room, shuts the door,

and stays there until dinner.

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