What the times will not allow

I whispered: “lie still!”

And heard the shooter chuckle:

“Nice light up shoes, kid.”

***

This haiku is adapted from a two sentence horror story I wrote recently.

Based on one of my biggest fears as a parent— the terrible possibility that my kids could be present during a shooting…. On my kids first day of school, I couldn’t help internally freaking out about it, when I was walking him down to the bus I was watching his shoes light up and thinking how they’d make him more of a target :(

Absolute madness that kids can’t just enjoy their light up sneakers without the adults around them having to worry about how that could affect their safety.

I’ve even heard some schools have banned flashing shoes.

Anyway, his shoes have an off switch. I make him turn then off at school, because I’m anxious.

Still, I think realistically, having light up shoes probably makes kids safer. Visibility is a good thing in most cases (less likely to be struck by a car, of course).

Here’s the two sentence horror story I wrote on it.