amed me

ns never had. I was docile, hardworking, and simple-minded. I never complained. I d

wever, was to be a

s a teenager now, still non-verbal, with a mind that saw the world d

her with

wers from the woods. I protected her from the casual cruelty of her uncles. When they would get drunk

she becam

e would let out a piercing shriek that brought her father running. Mr. Benton,

stubborn refusals to eat, convinced her father to let me get a GED. It was a correspond

a harmless way to keep

t as my

al supplies stored in the barn. I identified a common pesticide, a potent organophosphate. It was a slo

ple, loyal servant. I was "Andrew," the good boy. I was Molly' s pr

e nurturing the instrumen

" My eighteenth birthday was the day I knew, from my past life, that the au

gs of moonshine. It was a celebration. They we

and playe

rt of the family," I told Mrs. Benton

a strange mix of pride and pity. "You're a g

. My movements were calm and precise. A few odorless, colorless drops in each

women locked in the shed, whose tormented cries

sed ou

Benton declared,

m, my cup filled

for the screa