The wind was sharper this close to the water. Hands trembling, Astrid hurried to zip her jacket before the ride operator checked her seatbelt. She wished her tremors had more to do with the chill in ... [+]
You might wind up like me,
with spiders on your lips,
crawling out like words.
I never meant to offend.
I just never understood
how the other one, my sister,
got everyone to smile at her.
She was nothing to look at.
I stood her up side by side with me,
our faces next to each other
in the one small mirror.
Plain and brown-haired, oh!
The freckles! Yet, the very birds
would come down to take crumbs
from her hand. I could not
understand it. When she came back
from winter's house, rubies falling
from her mouth and telling that tale,
I thought, At last. Here is something
I can do as well as she. Any fool
can fall down a well.
Something I can do just as easily as she.
Any fool can fall down a well.