Page 163 of Rot In Knotty Pieces

The door creaks open.

“Good morning, my darling.”

I stare up at the face of the man I know and love more than any other.

“Daddy!”

He lifts me out of bed and holds me up, pretending I’m an airplane.

“Time to get up and get ready, Tallie.”

He sets me down and ruffles my hair, then goes to the drawers and pulls out clothes. I bounce across the room to Callie and hug her.

She signs that she’s excited for today. I sign back saying me, too.

“Darling, we’re going to be late.”

I look up and see my mum. She’s got the same colouring as us, but with wide hips and this softness. When Mum smiles, she makes everyone else smile. She’s leaning on the door frame, smiling at us, but in her hands are our school bags. It’s our first day, and we are excited and scared.

“My girls, are you ready for today?”

I look at Callea.

“Yes, Mum,” I say. “We are.”

Dad stops at a drive-through and buys us breakfast. When we get to the school, he comes in with us, smiling at the teachers and shaking their hands.

School is fun. I love it. Callie doesn’t love it as much, but she doesn’t speak, and it’s made some of the kids weird. That’s okay, I’ll speak for us.

Mum picks us up and brings us home.

After dinner, Dad brings out a cake with candles.

“Happy Birthday to you,” he sings loudly as he lowers the cake to the table.

Callie grabs my hands and grins. I hold hers tight, smiling back.

We’re five, and life is wonderful.

“We love you, Mummy and Daddy,” I say for Callie and myself.

We had a name. We have a name. Tallea Gates. I was five, and I had parents who loved me and a life.

I had a name.

I had a birthday.

I was normal once. We were normal.

We could have been anything.

“But we wouldn’t have met them if we had,” I say out loud.

Kestrel and Merle reach past with hands on the door. We all look at Raven, who nods, and then we gently, lovingly pull the door closed.

We will come back here and remember sometimes, but we don’t need those memories.

We want to make new ones.