"trees"

Lorna's Inner Monologue:

One day I came home and found my step-mother on the floor, bleeding from the side of her mouth and smoking a menthol cigarette. She'd only been living with us for about six months, but I liked the way she braided my hair and never tried to kiss me. That afternoon I'd been collecting leaves for Mrs. Brown's Science class on photosynthesis, and I set the overflowing grocery sack down on a chair.

My step-mother reached in, took two twigs and put them on her head. "That's how Bunny got her ears," she said, crushing purple leaves into her hair. "Go wash up for dinner. Your father will be home any minute."