Teen Ink

   I left an empty house this morning

My brother, mother, father, all gone

School and errands.

I felt empty all day

Maybe because of the cold I caught

I coughed and sniffled

While the teachers asked if I needed a drink

Lunch was empty.

I don't even know what I ate

And I couldn't hear anyone

I slept in class and dreamed

Of Emptiness

Where there was nothing

Until the teacher called my name

It wasn't important.

I thought of emptiness as I walked home

My friends were talking

About their boys, I think

Emptiness settled in my stomach

And draped about me like heavy cloth

Velveteen polka-dots.

I came home to an empty house

My father, at work, an executive office

My mother, at the grocery store

My brother, practicing baseball

I had dropped my keys

The empty house enveloped me

And echoed as I cried.