Time of the Season
Christopher
Hivner
The train pulled
away
from Lancaster
station
taking mother
to Philadelphia,
the first peace
I’ve had since she
molted,
leaving behind her
outer shell of
Marion Heller,
a middle-aged
matronly woman
of graying hair
and
spreading middle,
baking pies for
the neighbors
and still hanging
wash out
on the line.
January brings her
yearly change,
leaving old skin
behind
for new life
as vivacious blond
Samantha James,
long legs emerging
from a short
skirt,
and piercing pale
eyes.
Mother travels to
the city
to hunt,
no one will miss
the men there
where there are so
many.
For the next weeks
I will tell
everyone mother
has gone to see
family
in the Midwest,
Indiana, Nebraska,
a place no one
will question,
and when she
returns
she will feed me
like a mama bird
until I grow
strong enough
to change and hunt
myself.
When her body has
purged
her prey
Samantha will
grow and age,
becoming Marion
Heller
once again.
