Stop Pretending - by Sonya Sones

Stop Pretending - by Sonya Sones
Oh Hi-- Please don't notice me. Please don't take an interest in me. Please don't talk to me. And, especially, don't expect me to answer your questions. Please don't. Please.
If you do, I might just have to face my fears. I might have to admit to you--and to myself--that there is something really awful happening in my life. With my family. With my sister. See, I don't want anyone to know. I don't want to know.  I want to keep pretending that I'm okay, that my family is normal and my sister is just out of town--on vacation.
If you keep asking, I might have to stop pretending that my sister is normal--that she isn't in a mental hospital--that she'll never get better. So please, just don't talk to me; don't ask me any questions. And especially don't joke about anyone being --out of her mind-- because it's just not funny anymore. Just let me write my poems, in my journal because I have to tell somebody.
Read, Stop Pretending, What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones
By Peg Dombek, Seattle Public Library
2002 Evergreen Nomination