SandScript 2020

FICTION
was just goofin’ with you, you know how
Frankie is. He does that with all the girls.”
“Oh to hell with Frankie, Joe,” Lisa
snapped. “This is exactly what I was talking
about.”
“Lisa—”
“No, Joey. I need you to listen to me,”
she said, her voice thick. “I need you to really
listen to me. I’m tired of having to pretend
like everything is ok. Everything is not ok.
It’s not. Don’t you understand?”
Joey saw the first tear as it slipped
down her face, glittering in the light that
filtered from the shop window. He opened
his mouth before closing it again, unsure of
what exactly to say. He swallowed thickly,
his saliva doing little to sooth his dry throat.
He glanced at Lisa and decided on a simple
“I’m listening,” casually leaning back against
the wall of the station behind him.
Lisa nodded slowly, drying her
cheeks on her jacket sleeve. “What
happened with Frankie, it wasn’t just the
same as what he does with all the girls,” she
said quietly. “And if it was, you think I can
move on from it so easily?”
Lisa looked down at her cigarette,
worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.
“When I was four, my mother got me my
first doll-baby,” she said, her gaze focusing
on something unseen in the distance. “It
winked its eyes and cried and drank when
you held its bottle to its mouth. It even
pottied like a real baby. I loved it more than
anything, took it everywhere with me.”
The wind blew lightly, carrying with
it the smell of creosote and wet earth. Lisa
shivered and pulled her jacket more tightly
around herself, clearing her throat before
continuing.
“And when I was six, my mother gave
birth to Charlotte and she was so beautiful.
A real-life doll-baby, just like the one I loved
so much,” she said. “From the first second I
saw her, I knew I was going to grow up to
have babies of my very own. I was going to
feed them and cradle them and love them
more than anything else on earth. But
after everything…I can’t, Joey. After what
happened with Frankie, it’s like a part of
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