scenario
raze
for
christmas
they
bought
me
a
faux oak
desk
with
two
shallow
shelves
and
a
pull
-out
drawer
.
it
sat
beside
my
bed
in
the
room
i
shared
with
all
my
sisters'
toys
.
they
set
it
down
facing
a
window
that
looked
out
on
the
back
yard
.
that
was
the
year
my
father's
father
started
a
war
of
letters
with
my
mother
.
it
all
hinged
on
the
old
man's insistence
that
a
basement
was
no
place
for
a
child
to
live
.
he
was
sure
i
would
be
the
first
one
to
die
in
the
event
of
a
fire
.
he
called
for
the
entire
floor
and
the
stairs
that
tongued
down
into
it
to
be
reinforced
with
steel,
leaving
everyone
else
to
burn
while
i
slept
through
the
bedlam
.
what
he
failed
to
understand
was
that
in
this
scenario
i
was
already
the
safest settler
in
the
house
.
all
i
had
to
do
was
climb
onto
the
flimsy
piece
of
furniture
that
held
my
electric
typewriter
and
a
cheap
plastic
lamp
with
cervical kyphosis,
and
if
the
wood
withstood
my
weight
,
i
could
slide
open
a
glass
door
that
let
moonlight
mingle
with
the
black
of
bleakest
night
and
feel
blades
of
damp
grass
fill
the
space
between
my
toes
.
241002
what's it to you?
who
go
blather
from
