Cutting Fences: A Short Story
(By Nannette Kreitzman)
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| Author | Nannette Kreitzman |
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Excerpt:___
A moment of introspection prompts her to say, “Before she adopted me, I was in foster care for as long as I could remember. Not all the families were great, but they were still families, you know?”____
I nod, waiting to see how this connects to the topic at hand.____
“I mean, they were there for each other, even if it wasn’t always in a good way. Us kids were never…”____
“Never what, Shannon?”____
“Forgotten,” she sighs. “My mom... Sometimes she comes home and looks at me like she forgot I was there.”____
My steps falter. Jean has accused me of this, but I brushed it off with the rest of her complaints. Hearing the same words from a traumatized child opens my eyes to the despair behind them.____
Shannon turns to see why I’ve fallen back. “You okay?”____
“Just stepped wrong. Go on,” I say, catching up with her.____
“So anyway, I had certain expectations when I went to live with her, you know? I didn’t think it would be perfect, but I at least thought that I’d be a part of her life. But I never was.”____
“And how did that feel?” I ask, still thinking of Jean.____
She stops and loops her fingers through the fence, looking toward the city in the distance. “Honestly? The things she did to me physically never hurt anywhere near as much as her apathy did.”____
With a few simple sentences, Shannon has given me an insight into my marriage I never made the effort to have, and I am ashamed. If I had given Jean even half of the attention I gave my patients, I would have discerned the full extent of the pain I caused her. Instead, her complaints were a buzzing in my ear. An annoying distraction from what I thought was more important.”
