My house is made of windows. I clench the rock in my hand and shove it in my pocket.

They slur words by the barbecue—the meat sings as it burns.

I jump on the trampoline and break through. My ankles begin swelling as I limp through empty beer cans.

Khalilah Okeke was raised in the Pacific Northwest and now resides in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and two children. Her work has been published in Down in the Dirt magazine, The Red Eft Review, and The Orissa Society of the Americas Journal. You can follow her blog at khalilahokeke.wordpress.com.