I stood hidden in the shadows

With the trees cloaking my figure

I stared through the worn down windows

And watched the heat rise in their faces

He had come home drunk again

But something was different this time

“You sold our car to some men?!”

The wife yelled, “For drinking money?!”

For a long time now, he’d go missing

She’d wait in agony while he drank away

Two weeks later they’d be back to kissing

She could never stay mad, and he knew that

Tonight had never happened before

The wife was furious, he sold their only car

All he said, “I couldn’t help it. I needed more.”

She straightened her spine, refused to back

down

I could hear her shouts through the cracks

They deafened me with great power

She screamed and screamed until the smack

He blurted, “Shut up!” and shook her ‘til she did

I don’t think she felt the sting of the blow

Her eyes glowed with anger and disappointment

“I want my car back. Let’s go.”

His head hung low as he complied

I watched them walk out in silence

Headed to some little bar by a dark alley

I was still shaking from the sight of violence

She followed his footsteps onto the street

They walked away from the quiet neighborhood

Guided by the softly glowing lamplights

I watched them get farther from where I stood

A blanket of silence fell over the darkened houses

I turned back to the living room windows

Without paying attention, the house appeared dead

But I could see the movement of curling toes

They belonged to a nearly invisible figure

The figure stood and flicked on the stairwell light

It was a little girl clenching a pillow to her chest

Her tear­stained face told me she witnessed the fight

Poor child was no older than maybe eight or nine

I passed through the glass and went to the girl

I put my hand on her shoulder and wings around her

body

She started to shake with sobs and let her pain unfurl

After minutes of breaking she was left with quiet hiccups

I tried my best to lessen the pain in her heart

When finally, exhaustion struck her

I felt her fragility and knew right then we’d never part

She sat down her pillow and laid her small head

The cold wooden floor didn’t touch her skin

Her eyes drooped and fatigue weighed her down

Like many other nights, she begged for dreams to begin

There she stayed, awaiting her parents’ return

I stood guard over her as she slept

And promised to never be far whenever she wept