'Tell the Kardashians It Happened Like This' by Roberta Beary

The man next door came to our house and told Daddy not to be shooting up the front yard, cause the noise keeps waking up the baby. Daddy yelled that he’d see about that. The next thing Daddy shot at the neighbor man. And the neighbor man shot at Daddy. But missed and hit me. They both got discharged real quick from County Medical. I’m the only one still here. Daddy comes to visit everyday until the nurses shoo him home. I don’t mind cause I got another visitor named Persephone. She’s real pretty from what I can see, and doesn’t mind when my eyes go drifting or the mess of tubes. Bad stuff happened to her too, Persephone says. Her uncle kidnapped her from her parents’ house. I say that sounds creepy. Ask if she got to be on TV and did she meet any of the Kardashians. She laughs. It sounds like a xylophone water stream. Persephone asks if I want her to hold my hand. She says if we hold hands, I get to play with my best friend Rosy. I haven’t seen Rosy in a year. She didn’t run with us into the supply closet. She hid under her desk. I miss Rosy. A lot. I slip my hand into Persephone’s. It’s silky. My eyes go drifting. Now my daddy’s here. Now he grabs hold of my other hand. Now he’s crying so hard, like he’ll never stop. Now a lady doctor says something about the time. Now a nurse is tying a name tag to my toe. Now Rosy’s here, and she’s smiling as big as life.