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The Story:
We live nestled into the safety of the mountains. My little brother and I have never seen the world outside of our cove, but Mom says there’s no reason to care about what’s out there anyway.
“Kurt, I said stop eating them.”
“But I’m hungry!”
My brother and I are picking blueberries at the edge of the woods. A hungry boy just can’t resist such readily available goodness. I can’t say that I blame him.
“Mom will be back in an hour or so. We’ll eat then.”
My hands are stained purple from the blueberry juice. It’ll be days before this comes off. I think that’s why Mom has me pick the blueberries. She loves to eat them, but she’s always so concerned with getting things on her hands.
We continue picking berries, and Kurt continues eating them, until I hear the sound of Mom’s car coming up the trail—fast. She slides to a stop beside our home and runs into the trailer before the dust even has a chance to clear.
We hurry down to the trailer. I don’t know what is going on, but I hear banging around in the kitchen. My mother’s actions sound frantic.
“Kurt, stay out here.”
I open the door and inch inside. Mom is dumping salt into a bowl and has a butcher knife laying in a skillet on the stove. She knows I’m there without having to look.
“Kelsey, you’re going to have to do exactly what I say, sweetie.”
“Mom, what’s going…”
“No time for that.”
She places her wrists on a wooden board.
“Take that knife and chop off my hands. Do it, now.”
“What? Mom, have you lost your…”
“I’m going to die. Kelsey, if you don’t, I’ll die. Do it, now!”
She looks at me, and the whites of her eyes have turned solid red.
“Mom, your eyes!”
Her shoulders drop. My observation appears to have stolen all of the tension from her body. She collapses to the floor.
“It’s too late, then.”
“What is?”
She stares at the wall with a look of disbelief on her face. I’m too scared to ask again, so I wait for her to speak.
“You have to go. I’m contaminated. Take your brother and leave the cove. Now.”
“Mom, I don’t understand what’s…”
“Now!”
I run out the door and grab my brother.
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