Copyright ©1998, Christine

The souls of the children died after the fall. The mother stayed in the shadows. She was a shadow, only allowed into the family if she behaved. Mother's shadow watched as the hammer cracked open the fragile lives that could have been. The male puppeteers played with happiness and killed with each insensitive word. The child learned to play with her life through a charade of feelings. The mother could no longer protect her children because nothing alive was valued here anymore.