the sun is up the sky is blue, Vk's beautiful and so are you

Artwork of "Spring Fever" by Lorelle Bacon

Micah and I ran outside. I knew how to open the side screen door so it wouldn’t make any noise. We eased out and sat on the steps. I studied Micah’s face to see what he felt, but he looked far off. His back went broomstick straight when Daddy slammed out of the front door and Momma threw something across the room. I wanted my brother to say everything was okay. Instead, he rubbed his hands on his legs as if they were sweaty, then let his arms hang down between them. I stared at the scabs on his knees.
He blinked, and he didn’t want me to see him cry, so he ran off.
I ran to my brothers’ closet, closed the door, shut my eyes, and rode away on Fionadala’s back. Her mane flew in my face while we climbed higher and higher. Sister mountain laughed when we tickled its sides. All I saw was misty clouds. All I felt was wind and horse hair pushing up against my face. TENDER GRACES, VK Book 1

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It had been hotter than a pancake griddle all day, and there was just a little relief from wind hurled in by the storm that was supposed to come in the early morning hours. Even with the wind, a clinging wet heat slicked my skin and made my clothes suck to my body. It made me itchy with cranky feelings. I wondered why Dylan chose a picnic in high summer in the dark, and with a storm coming. But he was wound up tight as my old clock when I turned the crank too many times. He kept a smile so wide his lips could fit around my head. His teeth shone one Mississippi, two Mississippi, all Mississippi. Virginia Kate Book 2 Draft