tell the wolves iām homeĀ
from the 2012 carol rifka brunt novel.Ā alter as needed.
it creeps up on you, doesnāt it?
iām not the one asking stupid questions.Ā
i was not trying to kill myself.Ā
itās okay. you donāt have to say anything.Ā
i know this is rough, but youāre doing a great job.Ā
whatād you say that for?
iām not telling you anything.Ā
do you want to go to a party?
i promise it wonāt be awful. cross my heart.Ā
opportunities donāt come swimming back to you if you throw them away.Ā
do you always have to be such a moron?
thatās one handsome piece of art.Ā
donāt you even think about it.Ā
thatās what i want for you. i want you to know only the very best people.Ā
i donāt know what youāve been told about me, but itās probably not true.Ā
i should take you out for ice cream.Ā
congratulations, sherlock. that only took you a few centuries to figure out.Ā
i could kill him if he werenāt already dead.
itās only the biggest newspaper in the country.
iām not, like, three years old, you know.
itās in the woods behind the school.
youāre not scared or anything, are you?
thatās kind of a creepy thing to ask, isnāt it?
he talked about you all the time.Ā
art isnāt about drawing or painting a perfect bowl of fruit. itās about ideas.Ā
you have enough good ideas to last a lifetime.
whatever. i donāt want to know.
you can come down whenever you want. i mean it. night or day.Ā
you donāt take money unless itās family.
the kinds of things i want donāt cost money.
you want to go for a walk or something?
come on out. itās not funny.
sometimes i think about things like that. what it used to be like.Ā
ugh, donāt be so gross.
why does everything need to turn into an argument?Ā
thirteen is the moment right before you slip away into the rest of your life.Ā
you can have a think on it.Ā
iām just some stranger to you.Ā
youāre an adult. you can go wherever you want.Ā
iām not worried. iām just asking.Ā
i donāt come out good in pictures.Ā
i think that woman thought we were a couple.Ā
thereās got to be a place where we can do whatever we want.Ā
do you want another piece?Ā
iāll probably be in big trouble.Ā
i know all kinds of things you donāt.Ā
youāre a romantic, [name].
iāll take a nice ripe camembert.Ā
if you let this pass, youāll go through your life and youāll get to be my age and youāll sit in your kitchen thinking what a fool you were.Ā
it is a little weird, but in a good way, like art.Ā
i guess iām nothing to brag about. look at me, iām a mess.Ā
i used to be jealous of you, you know.Ā
look, i donāt even really know how to play chess.Ā
do you not like butterflies?
itās one of my fiddly-hand things.Ā
the worst is over, alright?Ā
i know how to wait for a cab.
iāll be honest. iām not a big fan. i donāt see the point.Ā
go get your coat. i know a rooftop where we can see the fireworks.
oh, my god, i knew you had some secret boyfriend.Ā
i got you. i knew it. i can see it all over your laughing face.Ā
you are the biggest loser, [name].Ā
iām serious, okay? just donāt do anything stupid.Ā
it looks like youāve been crawling around in mud.Ā
this will be like old times.Ā
honey, i know you donāt want to.Ā
one way to stop things from feeling so raw is to blanket over the memories.Ā
it was something right out of a movie.Ā
one day youāll understand this better than you do now.Ā
weāre miles past any of that mattering anymore.Ā
you do know that if you ever need anything, you can ring me, right? anything at all.Ā
iām so sorry for everything. all of it.Ā
i wasnāt sleeping. just resting with some brandy.Ā
i still owe you a story.Ā
maybe iām trying to help you. did you ever think of that?
you really think you can keep your big secret forever?
iām going to tell you a couple things, and iām going to trust you not to make a big deal about them.Ā
so, does that solve all the mysteries of the universe?Ā
complicated is the bad one. complex is good.Ā
you can have whatever you want.Ā
itās the most unhappy people who want to stay alive, because they think they havenāt done everything they want to.Ā
youāre turning me into mr. miyagi with all this talk.
if my life was a film, iād have walked out by now.Ā
look, itās nice out. for once you havenāt brought the rain with you.Ā
spying can make a girl skittish.Ā
youāre not dying. youāre just drunk.Ā
oh, i see. nerd courtship rituals.Ā
you donāt know everything. you think you do, but you are so far from knowing everything.Ā
do you even know how much trouble youāre in?Ā
youāre so stupid. youāre such a complete idiot.Ā
get your hands off my stuff.
i promise itāll be better than sitting at home on your own.Ā
we could go in the summer.Ā
see? see how much he loved you?Ā
as you head into adulthood, you may occasionally encounter oversized exotic beverages of an alcoholic nature.Ā
you can build a whole world around the tiniest of touches.Ā
sit down, have some breakfast.Ā
maybe i donāt want to be great. maybe i want to be average.Ā
sometimes i lie in my bed and i look around my room and i canāt believe iām not supposed to be a kid anymore.Ā
youāre making it very hard for me to trust you.Ā
on top of that, youāre grounded.Ā
itās like you really donāt understand the magnitude of what youāve done here.Ā
if this is some kind of cry for help, weāre hearing it, okay? loud and clear.Ā
itās good to hear you say that.Ā
itāll be okay, honey. donāt worry.Ā
do you know what itās like to hope for someone to die?
how evil is that? how totally evil am i?Ā
youāre so, so lucky. why are you so lucky?
it just feels like iām being pulled out to sea.Ā
as if listening to that would ever get anyone in the mood.
youāre lucky you were never attacked out there.Ā
you have seriously got to find a way to lighten up.Ā
come on, you have to eat.Ā
okay, kid. whatever you want.Ā
i didnāt know where you were. i had no idea what happened to you.Ā
it was a bad idea. the worst idea. iām so sorry.Ā
are you okay? are you sick? what do the police do to you?
you canāt go all by yourself.Ā
iām just not a good person.Ā
itās like weāve known each other all these years without even seeing each other.Ā
you didnāt know that was me, but it was.
i donāt want to leave this planet invisible. maybe i need at least one person to remember something about me.Ā
iām starting to think i never should have said that. iām starting to think it was a bit on the open-ended side.Ā
itās safe with me. i promise.Ā
no inappropriate comments and no scenes, got it? this whole thing is embarrassing enough.Ā