Mom concentrated on her shaking hand, like she wasn’t sure what it would do next. But her hands kept shaking, and the pink seeped out from the borders and onto her skin, spreading like blood. I kept my back to it.ĭad had the newspaper folded open to the crossword puzzle in his lap, and Mom had her feet propped up on the coffee table, painting her toenails a pale pink. Like a high-pitched frequency with no sound. I walked toward the couch where my parents were busy ignoring me and rubbed at the goose bumps forming on my arms-partially from the artificially cold air, but mostly from the feeling coming from behind me, from the kitchen. We were a block from the beach and the cross breeze kept things perfectly cool as long as the windows were open. It was Labor Day weekend, humid, practically stifling, but using the air conditioner was a new thing in our house. The air conditioner was set too low and the vent rattled above my head. I closed the suitcase, tiptoed down the wooden steps, and curled my toes on the cold tiled floor. And as I watched him slide to the floor, the color I felt inside was a deep, deep burgundy. And despite what Nathaniel Hawthorne led me to believe, it wasn’t the color of shame either.īrian’s blood had stained the kitchen tiles a fire-engine red.

Gold for victory, scarlet for the bond of blood.

I recognized the emblem from my father’s old pictures. When I unzipped the top and peered inside, all the hope drained out of me in a single breath. Floor covered with mismatched flip-flops. The suitcase was full, bulging at the top, but nothing seemed missing from my closet. It had to be subconscious, but still, I didn’t want to think too hard about what she was secretly thinking. And then, two nights ago, she locked her bedroom door. Awaiting some official judgment.” Night after night Mallory relives the day of murder, and just as she feels like things might be getting better, she finds herself stuck at the center of another murder.For Luis, who reminded me of the dream that I had forgotten “I thought that this must be what purgatory was like. It's not long before her secrets get around school and everyone knows her past. Every day Mallory lives in fear that Brian's mother will come find her, and every night she feels haunted by Brian's presence. Even though it was in self defense, the fact that she cant remember anything that happened leaves people suspicious and judgmental. Brian's mother couldn't accept the loss of her son, and after she shows up on Mallory's back porch demanding to know where her son is, Mallory's parents decide that it would be best if they send her away to boarding school. In the story by Megan Miranda, titled 'Hysteria' it tells the story of recovery the main character, Mallory, after being labled the murderer of her boyfriend (Brian).

Hysteria by megan miranda