Warning: May be triggering
Confused
Confused is a toddler, barely walking and talking. He rocks precariously with every step he takes, and his words come out in a hazy slur. He still doesn’t know what’s happening in the world around him.
A few days ago, his family and his family friends were having a cook-out. The smell of charcoal hitting greasy meat still lingered in the house. His mom picked him up and tucked him in. “Goodnight sweetie, I’ll see you in the morning.” Behind her, his dad bid him goodnight in slurred speech. When his parents leave the room, he crawls out of bed to play with his sister. He finds her in her room, sleeping on the floor. Beside her are oval-shaped, small, pale candies. Confused tries to wake her up, but she has always been a heavy sleeper. He decides to just go back to bed. The next morning, Confused woke up to sobbing, but it was not his own. He left his baby-bed, and stepped down into the cold hardwood floor. His family and their friends were still wearing yesterdays clothing, but crying. Something had happened, but what?
Confused looks around for his sister, but cannot find her. He wants to ask her all the questions that seem jumbled up in his mind, but she is nowhere to be seen. She had been sleeping on the floor of her room the night before. He had been good; he hadn’t taken any of her 'candy' because he knew that his sister didn’t like when he took her stuff. He was a good brother. That night, he sleeps at his mom’s friend’s house. The next few days, Confused sees his mother and father sobbing into the arms of their friends across the room. All the two year old wants to do is pat their backs and ask why they're so sad but he doesn't. His parents have been so emotional these days that every time he tries to speak with them, they just hold him in their arms and cry into his hair.
Confused is older now and knows that his sister had taken her life. However, he remains just as Confused as he was when he was two. He still doesn’t understand why she did it, and most of all, where she went.
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Essence
Poetryqual·i·ty ˈkwälədē/ noun plural noun: qualities ➤ a distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by someone or something ❥ In which I show my perspective on different qualities known to humans ➤ Inspired by “The Book of Qualities” by J. Ruth Ge...
