I smoke cigarettes with my mother as she tells me she is going to leave my father.

The smoke filters through the window and fades away between constellations.

The only way we know how to feel good is through destruction.

So I light another replacement for my father and inhale.

Katherine DeGilio is a part-time writer and full-time redhead from Virginia. When she was a child, her goal in life was to be Kissing Kate Barlow from Holes. Since the wild west has diminished, she has decided instead to be an author. She assumes those professions share equal kill counts. You can find her latest work in Soliloquies Anthology, Litro Literary Magazine, and November Falls by Zimbell House Publishing. She loves connecting with her readers and encourages them to reach out to her on Twitter at @katiedegilio.