I don't have to hurt, you know. I don't have to be scared.

I know a guy who'll get me beer and there's places I can go, like down the alley near our house or in the bushes by the highway, and I can drink and I can think about being someplace else, someplace where no one wants to hit me, no one wants to make fun of me, no one even knows I'm there. That's the best, the best of all, when nobody sees you, when you're invisible, because they can't hurt you if they can't see you and one day, maybe one day soon, I'll be invisible for real, I'll be gone entirely. Just let them try and get me then, let them try and wait for me or touch me or catch me, they won't have a chance then, because I'll be gone. But for now I can pretend, I can erase that person, that me that hurts, that person who can be hit. I can drink like some kid in a fairy tale, drinking a magic potion to become invisible, and then I won't be there, at least so far as I can tell, I'll be lost where no one can find me, no one, not even me.

Copyright 2011 James B. Chevallier