LJ Idol week 30 (6/6): vacation

It's an understatement to say that I was a very imaginative child. I blame it on my mom, who encouraged me to go fight thorn witches in the backyard and dine on lilac sandwiches as a reward. Lilac sandwiches consisted of a sprig of flowers slapped between two fat green leaves, and were best consumed with "tea" (i.e. ( Read more... )

LJ idol week 29: disappear

Like every little kid, I dreamed of being invisible. Other kids wanted to be invisible to steal cookies or stay up past their bedtime. But I wanted to be invisible so I could sneak out of the house to explore what a desert night was like without my parents, or so I could live in the natural history museum to hang out with ( Read more... )

LJ Idol week 26: sated

Whenever I go to Hawaii, my skin turns a delightful shade of blue. Literally. For no apparent reason. I visit Maui with my parents most summers and I turn blue every time. Especially my legs. I can't figure out what causes it, but I'm not imagining it. By the time we land in San Francisco again, my legs are a delicate shade of ( Read more... )

LJ Idol week 25: closer (intersection week with lawchicky, whose entry on cesspools may be found here)

The midnight creek is full of stars, mirroring a sky that I do not yet know intimately. I grew up with the stars that you can see from the city. City stars are nestled among rosy clouds and low-flying planes. Here, in this wild silence, there are unfamiliar ( Read more... )

LJ idol week 10 prompt: sticks and stones.

I grew up as the ugly duckling, the scapegoat, the punching bag. Primary school through high school was filled with people who said terrible things to me, things I can't forget even now.

You little cunt.

If people try to bully me now, I fight back. I can be ruthless in defending myself. But not then: as a ( Read more... )

LJ Idol week 6 prompt: food memory

Growing up in the desert made us crave limes. In the summer, we took those juicy green globes and put them in the freezer. Then, when we couldn’t wait any longer, we’d snatch them, tossing them from hand to hand to avoid freezer burn, and rush into the hard sunshine. Sitting in the sparse shade under the slide, we’ ( Read more... )

LJ Idol week 5 prompt: inconceivable.

I never thought she'd die. How could this have happened? What god thought this was acceptable?

We were eleven years old, inseparable for a year before her bones started to rot.

It was inconceivable to watch her fade, unbelievable that as the days went by I could almost see through her. The sky reflected in her ( Read more... )