A Serpent in My Bed

offee hung heavy in

vered over me, her face

friend, or so

anksgiving break, a seeming

y eyes, a brutal wave of

blinding headlights,

staurant, Miller's Pla

a stroke, his once vi

, broken, his promi

in-law, Emily, clutc

shly welcomed, had meticulou

Michael, leading to Em

bled our family savings

the very fabric of our sm

e the pariah, blamed f

ing drove me to walk into t

ng the innocent victim, sighin

mirroring the exact look th

trophically naïve, so utterly

ed inside me, threatenin

nning anew, a cruel re

I wasn't the

exactly one year be

script was mi

t be her fool, her st

essica would

t, agoniz