Her Own Making: A Family

ol' s pot roast filled the dining room, a smel

smell of my ow

the food untouched, a kno

able, the portraits of long-dead Millers staring down with judgmental eyes, t

th

nt Carol said, her voice dripping with a

ot good enough f

, weak smile, her hand fluttering to her chest as i

don' t trou

stressed about the

ive program, I' d be

, sitting beside m

t worr

ve go

as a point, y

as the

as the exact conversati

p my internship opportunity at Star-Tech, the one I had bled

t handle the rejection, and the entire family, Mich

ould be a temp

was

beginning

watching my dreams get handed to my manipulative co

al bed from an illness exacerbated by stress and negl

d the beeping of the heart monitor that

, cold and sharp

o

ag

and from Mich

phantom limb from a life

ar and steady, surprising everyo

giving up the

lence fell o

Miller, lowe

s smile froz

d been full of feigned sy

ediately

t thought, with my condition... the doc

brow furrowed with conce

e reas

ed abou

st an in

ealth is mor

ant," I stated, look

the man I loved, but as a stranger

my career

rned

o say," my aunt snapped, her sweet facad

is your

s fra

ost l

ag

predator wrapp

fragile about h

ision," I said, pu

against the floor was l

pting the posit

nient for anyone' s plans, bu

ng stronger than they had

a small, symbolic rejection of ever

could feel their eyes on my back, a

' t lo

ation, it was a decla

lanned for me was o

hadn' t experienced since before my parents died

cated in the attic of their spr

freedom was quie

ld jewelry box my

d a pair of sapphire earrings, pieces I

ing to

aste fille

ng would n

n thi

' t he

small, reputable pawn shop on the other side of the c

an old man with glasses perched on h

?" he asked, hi

and placed it on

ke to se

xamining it under a bright l

ional, his mov

d the gold, and scribbled fi

gment in his eye

refre

ty," he said finally

er you a f

ed a n

ore than

eed money fo

t," I said wi

thick envelope of cash in my purs

life, converting a symbol of a false

t just currenc

r, the deposit on an apartment, the pri

fternoon, my

s Mic

go to v

lled

lenc

s later, a t

need t

t is ver

aving heart

l m

sage, a cold anger

palpit

lways so

pell, a sudden bout o

tom illnesses she deployed whenever

ell for it, ev

y from my first life, a memory

twenty-fir

se weekend getaway for us, a

so e

was all I coul

Millers, away from Bet

supposed to leave, Beth

hest, gasping for

to the emergenc

e doctors found absolute

damage w

sted we canc

aid, his face etched with worry as he sat

needs

dn' t

ded an

my suitcase packed and waiting

thany, but

hat my happiness woul

was just something to be put on hold

he root of

ig betrayal, it was a

e "too aggressive" while Bethany w

his business, promising to pay me back with interest that never m

onal labor of managing Bethany' s m

' s text message

y no longer brought te

niversity thousands of miles away, a place renowned fo

w my name, my history, o

the keyboard as I fil

ut wanting to build technology that connects people in meaningful way

life, I had

ance letter for days, a be

ily convince me that going so far

cal community college instead, so I could s

ere would be

ld be no

ked "S

ion window popped

ation has be

rst one in a long, long

t applying to

ying for a

I was determine

ger a weight dragging me down,

aken one l

d not get