Hide and seek—
three kids making the most
of a new apartment,
boxes everywhere

Who could have guessed something
so soft, could turn so
scary.

Youngest child,
squeegee in hand,
jumps off a box and
onto her older brother’s head.

Blood rushes and the
game is quickly disbanded.

He was okay.
A memory was made,
one we would joke about for years,

even if tinged with fear.

We moved forward,
the fear was forgotten,
life went on.

Had I known what was to come,
I might have lived in those
proceeding moments
just a little longer.

Had I known he would be taken,
not by a squeegee,
but by cruel reality,
I would have clung to my brother

much
more
tightly.