Exceptional Trying to put the pieces back together Broken by Beck Fenton What Happened? writing prompt entry Artwork by MKFlood at FanArtReview.com

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of violence. "Just pick up the pieces..." Mom's voice came from the kitchen where she was taping another box for shipping. I'd just broken one of her vases and she hadn't hollered at me at all. She sounded like a robot or something. She sounded... dead inside. "Do you want me to try to glue it?" There was no answer. She never got mad anymore. Never got irritated with me and my friends for making too much noise. And what hurt me the most was the loss of her laughter. She would sometimes smile at me, but her mouth didn't curl up at the corners, but just made a straight line across her face. Her smile never reached her eyes. I felt terrible, but I knew I couldn't fix anything. It was so different just a month ago. My friends would hang out here and sometimes she would even play a video game with us. She'd laugh when she'd beat us and tell us, "Come back and try again when you learn the game, guys." It was a blast. Damn. Bad choice of words. Blast. Like a hidden bomb that is planted so that if someone, like a soldier, steps on it, it is game over. Blast. Like for real and forever. Like if a soldier like my dad was walking down a road one day and KABLAM! He ends up dead and buried. And my friends hardly come over anymore. So, like they might die, too, and I won't be able to say good-bye. We are moving, she says, back to her hometown. She hates being reminded that we are... were a vet's family. Base housing kinda sucks that way. Just staring out the window smacks soldiers right in your face every day. Every day! And they keep stopping by to see if we need anything. She cries when they leave, but she doesn't think I see her. I just get fed up with them all. I pick up the pieces of the vase, but I carry them to my room. Maybe I can put it back together. If I'm careful, I think I can do it. I can't just throw out the pieces. It's funny... I just don't want to lose anything else. Writing Prompt Write a story that starts with: "Just pick up the pieces..." Author Notes I hope there will someday be an end to war.

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