A Beautiful Question of Where & When

A BEAUTIFUL QUESTION OF WHERE & WHEN

Freedom Meadow Media

Smashwords Edition

Published by Freedom Meadow Media

Copyright 2016 by Ashlee Craft

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the author.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Cover art by Ashlee Craft

PART ONE

one;

& I saw you standing there, hands in your pockets, holding tightly onto the back of the train, rails rattling beneath you, rails rattling & shaking your trembling bones / you were afraid, so afraid, but you did not show it / I never saw it but your world was always crashing & burning & breaking around you & you were looking anywhere, anywhere for light /

you turned to the great scholars & the famous quotations & the popular phrases people turned to / but the speakers listed on the walls did nothing to move you; you had heard all of them before, but you knew that there were people more skilled at telling you who you could be, & maybe should consider being, than those who would never know you

sure, big names & prestige in their names made them famous, made them popular choices for who you should turn to in generic abandon / they said the big quotations that everybody knew by heart, household names & words / & sure, some of them had the experience necessary to be able to say such speeches of motivation & to try to move people to their feet & inspire them to become great / but they did not know you / they could not tell you the very things you needed to hear / & they do not know you like I know you / they do not know the way your brow wrinkles & your face falls when things go wrong / they do not know the song that plays inside your soul, that you dance to with every step you walk / they do not know what words will make you strong again & the exact words that should be chosen or what exact tone of voice to say them in / they do not know when to say the words & they are not there in person to look you in the eyes & make sure you know that you're going to be okay / they do not know you like I do

they do not know you like I do

soiled

sitting in the sand trying to find

raindrops, you lost

your heart somewhere