My Clean White Bones
Short story by Nancy J. Miller published on The Prose March 23, 2020 for #prosechallengelivingonthestreet.
I feel the tugging, pulling. Not again. I was almost warm for one night. Never safe but a little warm. The cold is painful. It has nowhere to go and it doesn’t end. I hold on tighter to the soft tattered edge of a sleeping bag given to me by a stranger. The scent of kindness lingers in the bag until hard claws wretch it from me.
Icy veins of fear slice through my body as the last hints of sweetness slither away. I’m cold. I feel naked on the hard cement. I thought I found a safe corner. It is gone. It’s just me alone in a thick black world sucking me into a deep dark hole. The painful feelings that pressed against my face and welled up in my eyes are gone. Emotions are crusted over; now brittle and dry. There is no real reason I ended up here. No one noticed as I shrank into despair. No one will notice when I am gone. Read more…
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Nancy J. Miller, M.S. Career Counselor/Certified Life Coach 