The kid stood at the front door slightly hanging off the doorknob. Occasionally she would rock into the pictures hung meticulously on the wall behind the door making them slide into crooked positions. The pictures were all dusty like the memories behind them, no one looked at them anymore because everyone was too busy with the meaning of life. The kid liked it when they went crooked, they seemed real that way. It was hot outside, mid-August, but it didn’t make the doorknob unbearable to rock on. The woman spoke, calmly, reassuringly. The kid looked at the ground. "I wonder how many years it took for that shape to form?", she thought while looking at the black half-circle on the carpet. People were always coming and going through that door, they’d all left the same mark. "Maybe 50", she was exaggerating. It reminded her of the rings on a tree. The woman went on. The kid couldn’t careless there were more important things to think about. "My eyes were different in that picture", the kid thought, "they were deeper then". The woman continued and the kid wished she hadn’t asked for the information. A bird flew past the door. The kid tried not to look interested in it, instead she stood straight up and leaned against the door pushing the doorknob into her back until it hurt. The pages of the woman's book crinkled as she spoke on. "That bird never has to impress anyone", the kid thought. She became jealous. Still, the woman continued. The kid stood on the sides of her feet and then the soles and then the sides again. "I wonder if ballerinas ever wear sneakers, I wonder if hockey players ever wear slippers?" The kid adjusted her cap and scratched her ear, it was sun burnt. "I wish I could see rays". The woman looked up with intense eyes and adjusted her glasses, "She looks like Mrs. Claus", then she finished the last sentence and smiled. The kid took the cue, "He did ALL of that for ME?" she asked knowing exactly what the woman wanted to hear. The woman closed the book carefully as if it would fall apart otherwise. She rubbed the front cover, "Do you want to pray now?" The kid looked down. "That bird doesn’t have to impress anyone." she thought again. The woman scowled, "Well, you’ll be in my prayers". The kid opened the screen door and turned and looked at the woman, "I love you" she mumbled awkwardly. The woman took off her glasses and said nothing. The kid walked out into the summer day. She saw no rays, nor felt any divine power. It was just hot. She knew something the woman never would or even could. It didn’t matter though because her eyes weren’t as deep anymore, they could only be honest. She couldn’t hide the disbelief beneath the deep blues, she simply ceased to exist

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