Thanks for tagging me @mauannacreates! Rules: share a snippet you are extra proud of having written This is my most favorite, most heartbreaking snippet from Red, like my bleeding heart in your hand:

The door opens just wide enough to let in the sweet, fried smell of the diner and a beam of light right onto [Nash's] face. He don't breathe until Mama shuts the door and slips back down the stairs to move around in the kitchen.

Sometimes he wonders how different things would be if Mama loved them enough to take them away from Daddy. He supposes that kind of love would come along with being tucked in and kissed goodnight. Maybe even checked on with words rather than secret peeks when she thinks they're not awake to know about it. He asked his Sunday school teacher how come, if God's love is forever and always and no matter what, why he doesn't save them from the bad stuff. She didn't like that much. Said it's the devil that makes the bad and God makes the good.

But Nash doesn't think that's quite right. He thinks God is a lot like Mama—lovin' so long as it's from a distance and you don't think too much about what he could fix if he really tried. The sticky questions are always smoothed over with pretty words like, "Do what's right even when it's hard," and "Learn to fight your own battles." His teacher says it's inspiring, but all he hears is that as far as fightin' the devil goes, he's on his own. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised to find there is no God up there pokin' people to do what's right.

But he's got no issue believin' in the devil. Not only is the devil real, he's mean as spit and sleeps just down the hall.