When things children witness don’t make sense, they sometimes piece clues together and come up with their own explanations. It was not uncommon in my family for things to go unexplained, especially the question of why I didn’t start first grade until I was seven. I don’t think I’ll ever really know the reason, but I made sense of it somehow. Children experiencing frequent neglect—when demands on parents are overwhelming—need a way to see some larger reason for what’s happening, something that will replace the conclusion that they don’t count. In “Small Protections,” the effort to sort out suspected or apparent mistreatment leads to a disturbing conclusion, which nevertheless is a comfort. You can read it here, in Thimble.
Read “Small Protections,” in Thimble
