something new

A Story by anais.vionet

about being a teen (at least in my house)

My mom's passionate about Newton's second law of thermodynamics.

She uses a "mom" version which can be stated as:

"Daughters tend toward disorder if not managed."

If I'm nothing else, I'm vigorously, meticulously managed"like a tiger that must be turned judiciously from one situation to another lest a foot be forfeit.

"You're too young for"... is more than a formulate, it's a knife-like rule-tool, to dampen upheaval, banish trespassers, and put the "new" under glass"just out of reach. It's forever primed, there in the parenting tool-belt and can be thrown with the gunfighter's liquid, skillful ease.

So when I say I'm into something "new," I mean I've tiptoed into that Tartarus where you find the scandalous, like short skirts and Internet pornography.

The "new" is prima-facie proscribed until it's proven cold, safe and harmless"then blessed"like an old Disney movie.

Our impromptu confinement"in suspending the world"has allowed me unaccounted moments to sample and measure how this "new" might fit into my life.

So it is "now"that I wake up every morning"ready for crime"and I live but a hairsbreadth from punishment"yes, I've discovered one of God's greatest gifts and seductions"coffee.

After about a week, my brother, while I'm reading the news, transparently focuses my mom's attention on the cup by my iPad, by glancing, slowly with his eyes. My mom is fleetingly lost, then she alights:

"You're too young for coffee," she says.

I look up and groan.

Then, as she moves to collect the now-banned item, I send a sisterly glower to my brother who stands blithely and innocently sipping from his cup.