The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which
~~~
~ in a public park
"When are you coming back to school again?" He asks, joining me by the tennis courts. We sit side by side with our backs resting against the metal mesh, his clean school shoes aligned with my dirty plimsols. I hold a poppy stalk in my hands, willing it to stand up by itself.
"When I want to."
"Why don't you want to?" He asks, worried.
I look down at the grass and I shake my head. I can't tell him anything. "It's complicated," I say instead.
He looks away from me to the scout hut. After a second he speaks again. "Why were you crying last week? You never told me. You texted me and I came. What happened?"
I bite my lip and I look to the scout hut with him. The sun is setting. The weather is getting colder, and soon it will be Christmas. It will get too cold to come to the park. I will have to find another place to escape my house.
"Taylor?"
I ignore him again. I turn my attention to the poppy.
"Why do you like poppies so much?" He asks. I grit my teeth, his questions beginning to get on my nerves.
"What sorry?"
"You draw them on everything. You always wear red clothing. Or, maroon anyway. You like to sit here so you can be next to them. I would say you're crazy, but I know better."
"Poppies can grow anywhere. They grow upon dead things. Isn't that weird? Something pretty from something dead."
"Taylor, you are a very pretty girl," says Andy seriously.
I turn to him slowly, and he looks at me quickly before going red and turning back to the scout hut.
~~~
