Sprinklers on at 2am, cool chill breezes into my room.

And he laughed a ridiculous laugh from two doors away.
Noisily opening each window, giggling at a rapid speed
alone in the dark
And in a sudden second the laughter snapped to a gasp,
still silence.
a dreadful pause.
footsteps pounded into my room
Heavy and loud, each quick stomp pained my sleeping body.
I winced.
He ran to my bedside, breathing heavily. I could feel his heat, his fear, his heartbeat.
The agonizing realization,
The dreaded moment was here.
something was coming
quick.
unprepared, cornered.
we sat and waited, for there was nothing else we could do
but let it come.

withering garden by 2pm,
hot air suffocating an open highway.
nightmares seep into reality.

Picture taken at Ronald McDonald House in Tucson, AZ