Prologue

The branches dug into her palms

She didn't mind the blood there

She kept going

Higher and higher

Leaves in her hair

Tears in her jeans

She didn't mind the blood there

Some fire in her heart

Pushing her higher

Away from the shouting

Away from the stares

Away from the world

Strong feet, bare on the branches

She didn't mind the blood there

At the top

In the sky

Able to breathe

The shouting gone

The stares gone

Leaned her cheek on the tree

Closed her eyes

Took it all in

Washed it all away, away, away

Such a beautiful world

When she dulled it all down

Smoothed its jagged edges

Filed it all to ash

And watched it drift between her fingers

And then

A snap, a crack, and she fell

And fell

And fell

And fell

The shards of her nesting in the blood there