Emma Nichols

“Get out!”

“No!”

“DO IT”

“WHY WOULD I?”

We stand off

holding our ground

refusing to move

to give up that half centimeter

to the enemy

I shout again

she returns the favor

it repeats

over and over

again and again

quickly spiraling out of control

Our mom

enters the scene of the crime and

attempts to intervene

but neither one of us wants to listen

“It’s your fault!”

“no”

“yes”

“No”

"Yes”

“NO!”

“YES!”

We continue until

I am red in the face

shaking with the anger that has

risen out of its temporary hibernation  

to hijack my body

Eventually we both settle down

but it’s too quiet

I can taste the tension

sitting heavily in the air

I try to claw through it

to fix what is wrong

but it pushes me back down

I’m stuck

She leaves

I leave

No one says anything

the topic is taboo

left alone

while the fumes of our fight hover

polluting the air around us

10:00 pm

I see her

lying in bed

my sister

curled up

thumb in her mouth

and the anger that before had

possessed me, slides slowly

out of my body

lands on the floor

gets up

and quickly, without contradiction,

walks out of the room.