when i confronted my mom,
demanding the truth,
she told it.

i ran to my room, tears soaking my face
as if i hadn’t approached her,
determined to know it.

i felt so deceived!
clinging to the remnants of things i believed
to be true (that way children do)

“the cookies, too? you guys ate them?”
she solemnly nodded. my innocence
withered, rotted.

then she said
‘we can pretend you never knew!’
and i agreed (i liked to be deceived by
make-believe things…
and still do).