She came in

All eyes on her

I cringed

The conversation stopped

She had to be center

Every Christmas

Every Thanksgiving

It was always the same

I watched them

They all laughed at her jokes

Someone took her coat

They loved her laugh

I hated it

Too loud, too fake

She was the fun one

I was the serious one

I could not get a word in edgewise,

sideways or upside down.

Her stories had all been told before

Spoken with a loud laugh

Embellished way past the actual facts.

She didn’t tell lies exactly

The truth just evaded her

Like I did.

Her children cringed too

Her oldest disappeared

Her youngest tried to be like her

I went outside where it was quiet

I watched the smaller kids dodge and duck

Here was real laughter

I took some pictures

I zoomed in on faces

I wasn’t the only one

Lost in a crowd

Overshadowed by shadows.

She was always the sunshine

I was always the shadow

Later she left

The room sighed in relief

The conversations resumed

The room more quiet

More subdued

More relaxed

She was hard to keep up with

I never understood why they tried