Free The Milestone Tapes by Ashley Mackler-Paternostro

okay.’ And maybe that’s what she had wanted from Sophia. Why she called in the first place. The touchstone, the connection. It was hallow and empty now. Everything that made her family hers was gone.
    Jenna climbed woodenly from the stool and wandered into her room. The blinds were snapped shut from last night, and the bed had been left unmade. Gabe’s boxers and T-shirt lay in a forgotten pile by the bathroom; her robe was draped across the chaise at the foot of the bed. The television was on, loops of the seven day forecast played on, while a smiling meteorologist pointed to clouds and rain and high winds. She lay down in her bed, pulling the heavy comforter over herself, shielding herself from all signs of life.
     
    ~ * * * ~
     
    Mia bounded off the bus hours later, running towards the house with her lower lip quivering.
    “Mia? Mia? What’s wrong honey?” Jenna held the door open as Mia burst through waving to the bus driver once before pushing it closed.
    Mia was crying now, dense wails rocked her tiny body as she tore her rain jacket off, leaving it in a forgotten pile by the door.
    Jenna wrapped her arms around Mia tightly, pulling her up into her arms.
    “Baby, what’s wrong?” She rocked Mia. Mia wrapped her arms and legs around Jenna, clinging.
    “The kids on the bus ... made ... made...” Her voice got lost in fresh howls.
    “Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Jenna soothed, patting her back gently.
    “They said ... they said ... I’m ... I’m ... stupid.” Mia cried harder into Jenna’s shoulder, hiccupping and gasping.
    “Oh, Mia that’s not true, that’s not true.”
    “McKenna and Hailey said they can’t be my friend anymore because I’m dumb.”
    Jenna pulled Mia back and looked at her. “Mia Elizabeth Chamberland, you are not dumb. Why would they say that?” Jenna carried Mia into the family room and sat down on the couch, spinning Mia so that she was on her lap, still draped across her.
    Jenna waited while Mia calm down, her sobs thawing into heavy breathing and soft, quick sighs.
    “Ms. Field asked me to read out loud in front of the class, and I didn’t know a couple words. Everyone laughed, but Ms. Field told them to stop it and be nice; she was real angry. And at lunch, McKenna and Hailey said I couldn’t sit with them because I got them in trouble by being dumb.”
    “Oh,” Jenna breathed out a heavy sigh, hugging Mia closer. She felt furious, hurt for her little girl who was obviously wounded by words. She wanted to call their mothers, to wring their necks and teach them the value of being kind. But she wouldn’t.
    “I tried not to cry Momma, I did. But they were whispering and laughing at me. I had to sit alone and no one played with me at recess.”
    “Baby girl.” Jenna rocked her daughter slowly. “I’m sorry you had a bad day.”
    “I’m not going to school anymore,” Mia decided, clinging to Jenna.
    “Oh, I think that’s a bit of an overreaction. You like school and you like your teacher, you just can’t quit.”
    “No I don’t!”
    “Mia, listen to me, what happened today—it happens, and it sucks, but sweetheart, you can’t just quit school. People, especially girls, can be unkind. I don’t know why that is, and I wish I did, but I don’t. Sometimes people are mean because they think it’s funny, and sometimes people are mean just to be mean because it makes them feel tough and cool. But when you give them power over you, when you stop being yourself so that they will like you, or you run away because it’s tough, they win.”
    Mia nuzzled her mother’s neck, sighing heavily.
    “You have to be brave. And if McKenna and Hailey don’t want to sit with you at lunch or play with you at recess, you make new friends. You are a beautiful, smart little girl and if they don’t want to play with you, it’s their loss. But, Mia, no matter what, you must always be nice, because what they want from you, honey, is a reaction. They want you to get