Honey, I Was Listening

My short body thrown across the bed,
Her short body alongside mine.
The television blaring cartoons.
Watching the dust motes float
in the sunlight that pours
through the window.
I begin to tell her about a dream
I had the night before.
She doesn't say a word in response
I turn my small head towards her.
Her eyes are closed,
her breathing is heavy,
I know she's fallen asleep.
But still
I push open her eyelids
with my sticky
little fingers,
wake her from the imaginary
place she's gone to.
She opens her eyes and smiles.
She tells me in her soft, tired voice,
             "Honey, I was listening."
For that short minute I pictured my life
without her.
The worry that I'd have to climb the
mountain on my own.
That one day I'd have to stop
depending on her,
And learn to depend on myself.

---

Stephanie Colin, age 16
2008 Finalist
Lafayette, Louisiana
Acadiana High School
Teacher: Caroline Ancelet