Merced

by Josh Hancock

Merced, his baby sister, turned over in her sleep, so Pedro could not see her face. All he could see was her long black hair; how dark and thick and womanly it was. Merced had tacked paper butterflies to the walls. Pedro wanted to see her face and she finally turned over after he had sat there long enough. But there was nothing there except her womanliness in the dark on the bed. For a long time Pedro looked at the paper butterflies on the wall; they were easier to look at than the strange grown woman sleeping beside him.

6S

Josh Hancock is a community college instructor in California. He's the author of the 2001 novel Between the Rain, and has stories accepted for publication in "Yellow Mama" and "Black Petals" in the fall and spring.