Monsters in the House
What did you get for your fifth birthday?
by Molly Kinsey
What did you get for your fifth birthday? I got a Cookie Monster, an ice-cream cake and
a tonsillectomy. A few months later, while Snuffleupagus batted his eyelashes on TV,
mommy sewed the eyeball onto my Cookie Monster again. I wiggled that plastic eye like a
loose tooth until it fell off. To shield my stuffed toy from seeing what happened when
mom wasn’t home. I trusted his fuzzy hugs and couldn’t bear his pity. Not that I even knew what that word meant. My voice, stolen. Blue monster, eyeless. Mother, blind.
Step-father, hide-and-seeking his monster behind closed doors.
Molly Kinsey is a frightened little girl trapped in an adult body. Sometimes when she screams, words tumble onto paper. When she isn't hiding, she spends her time making life worth living. Can a bio be blank? I feel like this would be better blank.
