I grabbed Nettie’s hand and whisked her out of the house, away into the cornfields, to run and dance and play.
We counted butterflies, spied dormice and made daisy-chains. Nettie laughed and giggled and I kept my mouth closed and Nettie busy.
Later as the sun began to fall behind the hills and Nettie’s belly began to rumble, we played hide and seek. Nettie hid while I ran indoors.
I hopped over the obstacle course of bottles and sneaked past Papa’s thunderous snores and hid my own tears at Mama’s broken bruises.
Nettie giggled when I found her and her eyes opened wide at the picnic I’d packed, but back in the cornfield, at its furthest boundaries, Nettie wept when I told her we were leaving. Only Mama’s, hastily retrieved, blood-stained ring convinced her, and we picked up the suitcase and left with the falling sun.
Angela Goff 
June 17, 2014 at 11:28 pm
I got such a ‘Wizard Of Oz’ vibe from this, I had to do it…
June 19, 2014 at 9:00 am
I’m so glad! It was a wonderful entry. 🙂
June 18, 2014 at 7:03 am
Mine touches on the subject of child molestation. It’s non-explicit, but potentially disturbing. Also, the song lyrics I share contain harsh language.
http://dothedead.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/the-awful-secret/
June 21, 2014 at 9:21 am
I grabbed Nettie’s hand and whisked her out of the house, away into the cornfields, to run and dance and play.
We counted butterflies, spied dormice and made daisy-chains. Nettie laughed and giggled and I kept my mouth closed and Nettie busy.
Later as the sun began to fall behind the hills and Nettie’s belly began to rumble, we played hide and seek. Nettie hid while I ran indoors.
I hopped over the obstacle course of bottles and sneaked past Papa’s thunderous snores and hid my own tears at Mama’s broken bruises.
Nettie giggled when I found her and her eyes opened wide at the picnic I’d packed, but back in the cornfield, at its furthest boundaries, Nettie wept when I told her we were leaving. Only Mama’s, hastily retrieved, blood-stained ring convinced her, and we picked up the suitcase and left with the falling sun.