Playing for Keeps

There are three particular words in the world that can shred apart a girl's heart and rip out her skull.

And before you go on saying something idiotic like, "Oh! I know! It's 'I love'!" it's not. It's much, much worse. And with my luck, those three words just happened to come my way.

Right from my mother's loving mouth. "Honey, we're moving."

Now, at first, the words don't sink in, and your numb of all feelings and thoughts. But slowly slowly, it registers, and when it hits, a shriek escapes your lips, and you feel a sudden hard bang of empathy, toward yourself.

Your heart flutters, your stomach is in your throat, your heart in your stomach. All the pieces in all the wrong places!

So yes, you guessed it, this is what went on, and if you've moved before, then you know how it hurts. Never, ever had I seen this coming. But it did. And it had hit me right where it'd hurt the most.