contortion // m.c.

two

About three or four years ago, the land behind my parent's ranch was nothing but grass and a long field of flowers and weeds that seemed to go one for miles. It was fun, up to a point. We would run until we were bored and we would play hide and go seek until there weren't any hiding spots left. After a while, running where we ran for years got boring and we just stopped going outside. That's when I talked my family into letting me change it into something fun and mysterious. I stood out for hours, growing a forest full of trees larger than I have ever seen and creating the most beautiful waterfalls and streams. It was an obstacle course of branches and rocks that I was happy to call my creation. After that, we were all happy to go outside all day everyday to explore the back woods. We spent hours upon hours in the woods, swimming in the ponds and waterfalls that I had created. As I stood on my back balcony, I couldn't help but smile to myself and think of my favorite moment in the woods.

It wasn't too long ago, just about a month. Karis and I were playing in the woods, my woods. She was laughing and giggling and jumping on the rocks. There was a big cliff, that dropped about twenty feet, it was slippy that day. It had just got done raining and the stone was slick. I had warned her to be careful, to slow down. But, she didn't listen. She had just gotten to the edge when she slipped and fell. I ran to the edge and clenched my fists together, forming a cloud to appear underneath my sister, who landed safely on the plush cushion that was created by me. A smile broke on her face and I sighed to myself, giving her a glare. She laughed loudly and she stood on the cloud and jumped. I smiled to myself and I walked to the edge of the cliff, climbing down to get her.

"You can't do that," I said to her. She giggled in response and I couldn't help but laugh as well. We continued playing afterward. I was creating clouds one after the other that she would jump onto, like an obstacle course. She loved it, it made her happy, that day was one of my favorites, as it will always be.

"Etta! Dinner's ready!" I sighed to myself and I walked backwards, still looking at my wonderful creation. I stopped for a second, closed my eyes, and thought. My mind was full of dark grasses with a large bed of flowers that were all shades of blue and green, beautiful large oak trees with vines dangling from the tops and a small stream with crystal blue waters cut down through the middle. I opened my eyes again and my thoughts were there. I had created something new, like I do once a month, always.

Not once in my life had I felt like my gifts were a burden. Neither have I ever wished them to be gone. I had always loved myself, always thanking God for what he had done to me. I almost wanted to help people with the things that I could do, but then I wondered how in the world would I be able to do anything with it. I'm imagining something like a man getting tied up in a cocoon of weeds and tree branches. It's a funny sight. And he could easily get out of it if I don't make them strong enough. It's very easy to break grass and branches. I also never thought of my family predicament as a bad thing either. Yes, my family is very loud and obnoxious and its huge but I love them all like they are my actually family, and in reality, they really are. Family doesn't have to be biologically or blood related to be actual family. You just have to care and love each other, and I believe that we do love and care for each other with everything we have.

As I walked into the kitchen, Stacy and Cassie were clean, the schoolbooks were put away, and Kit was finally away from her art. My dad was sitting at the table still in his work suit and my mother was putting last minute spices into the spaghetti sauce.

"Hi, daddy," I walked over to my father and pecked him on the cheek as I sat down next to him at my usual spot.

"Hi, sweetie, how was your day," he looked over to my while sipping at his iced coffee.

"It was good, I got a lot of practice done," he hummed his response

"I saw you changed the back woods," with the mention of the woods, Colt's ears perked up.