These excerpts of two fraternal twins read like tone poems or journal entries. Either are possible.
Storm (the boy) and Lake (the girl) are toughened survivors of the foster care system. It’s failing them but they are trying to adapt with the resilience of youth and the tenuous hope that one day they’ll be together permanently.
The terse lines have a rushed quality about them, conveying the impression that they are writing in secret and under pressure. Pressure to keep their thoughts hidden, pressure to keep adults from finding out their long-term plans, pressure to hide forbidden love affairs, etc. Storm isn’t too trusting and Lake wants to avoid calling her attraction to a girl lesbianism. The two have had brief sexual liaisons that have left them more or less jaded about love.
But their affection for each other rings true. The reader can’t help but commiserate with them as they struggle to find placement in a world that seems to recede further away with each new placement and each new foster home. The very precarious nature of being tossed from one unknown to another means neither of them is ever settled. How can you focus on schooling when you’ll be uprooted and sent to another district? How can you care deeply for a sexual partner, new “sibling”, even a dog when they have to leave and find a job in another state?
This is a tragedy in microcosm about a world most settled people will never know. You want to hope for the best for people like Storm and Lake, even though you’re certain the best has vanished over the ever-retreating horizon.
Storm (the boy) and Lake (the girl) are toughened survivors of the foster care system. It’s failing them but they are trying to adapt with the resilience of youth and the tenuous hope that one day they’ll be together permanently.
The terse lines have a rushed quality about them, conveying the impression that they are writing in secret and under pressure. Pressure to keep their thoughts hidden, pressure to keep adults from finding out their long-term plans, pressure to hide forbidden love affairs, etc. Storm isn’t too trusting and Lake wants to avoid calling her attraction to a girl lesbianism. The two have had brief sexual liaisons that have left them more or less jaded about love.
But their affection for each other rings true. The reader can’t help but commiserate with them as they struggle to find placement in a world that seems to recede further away with each new placement and each new foster home. The very precarious nature of being tossed from one unknown to another means neither of them is ever settled. How can you focus on schooling when you’ll be uprooted and sent to another district? How can you care deeply for a sexual partner, new “sibling”, even a dog when they have to leave and find a job in another state?
This is a tragedy in microcosm about a world most settled people will never know. You want to hope for the best for people like Storm and Lake, even though you’re certain the best has vanished over the ever-retreating horizon.