Harbinger: A Journal of Art & Literature | 2018-2019

SOMETHING SLIGHTLY SANE
Brittany Thurmond
It was a bright, shiny day and just like any other, Mama woke Jolene. “Wake up honey,
it’s time for your medication,” Mama would say to Jolene. Her responsiveness had
decreased over the years and Mama had to yank words from her mouth in order to
have any type of conversation. Mama took Jolene to many psychiatrists and specialized
doctors, but the only thing that would ever come from it was Attention-Deficit Disorder
(ADD) as the diagnosis. Mama knew that couldn’t be what Jolene was suffering from,
but she continued giving Jolene the pills she was prescribed. The past few years, Mama
had trouble making Jolene swallow the pills, so she resorted to breaking them up in her
food. Mama had struggled with Jolene from the time she was born, each year increasing
in difficulties. Jolene had an odd suspicion that Mama was trying to kill her, and no one
could convince her otherwise. She believed that Mama was poisoning her food.
Mama was always so vibrant and full of laughter with the radiant color of joy always
kissing her face. Mama’s smile was always wide, spreading from each side of her cheeks
and covering the surface of her face. Her teeth were always shiny and sparkling white. It
was this very depiction of Mama that haunted Jolene. Jolene could not understand why
Mama was always bursting with immense happiness. No one could possibly be that happy.
The constant happiness had to be a cover-up for the evil act that Mama was planning.
Jolene could not enjoy a meal anymore and had stopped eating any meals prepared by
Mama months ago, but Mama was still unaware of this fact. Jolene would take each meal
that Mama served her and analyze it, attempting to find out what poisons were imbedded
in the food. Jolene would often tell me that Mama had to be aware that she was not
eating the food, because she still hadn’t fell over dead from whatever was in it. Countless
times, I tried persuading Jolene that she was being crazy, and that Mama actually loved
her. Jolene’s mood swings worsened toward Mama, which led to constant bickering and
Mama telling Jolene to stop being disrespectful. Jolene had every right to be hostile toward
Mama since there was reason to believe Mama was going insane and poisoning her.
When Jolene complained about Mama the first time, she explained to me that she had
found white powder in her food, and that Mama was attempting to poison her. I knew
that Mama had been breaking up her prescription Adderall into the food and I didn’t
think Mama would ever resort to killing Jolene until Jolene convinced me otherwise.
Jolene confided in me and asked if I would help her teach Mama a lesson. I was not sure
what she meant by that, so I figured that we would just be confronting Mama and simply
getting answers from her. Jolene had always been smarter than me, so I agreed to help
her. She did not tell me what the plan was, so I just followed her actions and did what
she told me to do. Later that day, Mama came home from the store.
It’s all a blur and I cannot recall the exact events that took place. The only thing I can
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