Tumble Me Wings

   Tumble was small. Fragile bird like bones with shimery white skin stretched tightly aross her. She was lonely. She was beautiful. She did not speak. Words were wild flashes of feelings that she could not bring herself to grasp. They were so fleeting, so momentary that it seemed pointless to use them. It did not matter. She was an invisible girl. She lived in the shadows and slipped through life. Ignored. Or perhaps, unseen.

   She perched atop her house. She was a bird. If she wanted she could spred her wings and fly. Tumble imagined what her wings would look like. Soft, buttery brown with tiny flecks of gold that streched far and surrounded her like a sheild. She smiled to herself. An unseen angel.

   As Tumble daydreamed on the roof her mother departed from the house and to the car. She didn't see Tumble. She didn't speak to Tumble.It was her fault after all. Her fault that Tumble's father left. She wouldn't leave him alone. Always calling him to her room in the middle of night claiming to have horrid nightmares. It was shit. Tumbles mother thought that. But Tumble knew that her nightmares were real and that she did cry out, not any more though. Not since He left. She never called for him. He always came to her, but it was him that she dreamed of. He was a monster. Told her to stay still. Told her to stop clenching her legs. He'd whisper in her ear to be a good girl. In the end she was. A good girl. Always was.

   Tumble watched her mother go. To drown her sorrows. Again. To bring home a strange boy. Again. To leave Tumble alone. Again. But, today was different. Today Tumble stopped being angry at herself. Today Tumble left. She packed clothes and food and stole money from her mother. And then she stashed it in a tree. Waiting. But the time had come, so Tumble gingerly dropped down from the roof and retrieved the sack. It was heavy, but she could handle it. Picking up her rusted bike from the dirt she tied the bag to the handlebars and pedaled onto the street. She kept her eyes straight. Nobody looked at her.

   She rode her bike down endless streets and alleys. She didn't think about where she was going or where she would sleep. She just knew her mother would stop drinking and bringing home strangers if she left. She knew she would be happy. Tumble knew. Tumble knew everything she needed to know. Until one day. A boy looked at her. For the first time somebody saw Tumble and didn't ignore her.