The First Sign of Trouble

Photo on Unsplash by Priscilla Du Preez

The cruelty of the joke knocks the breath from my body.

It is only when I realize it is a joke that I feel my body has clenched, my heart is fluttering. The relief of the lie is dizzying and I laugh, until I remember that only half of it was a joke. The other half is real, and my throat constricts. The fear and relief and confusion is too much, I am moments from tears, but it is still light out, we have to pay the…