Specters Resting

Religion class loaded my childhood imagination with stories of miracles, heaven and hell. A Warner Brothers take of good and evil took shape in my mind, two make-believe cartoon figures, one holy, one wicked.

At night, I lifted the matchstick-sized angel off my right shoulder, devil off my left, careful not to tilt my hand and send them off the cliff. Placing them on the nightstand, I covered each with a sock.

The nuns emphasized our guardian angels. “Children, yours is always stationed faithfully at your side.”

I slept against the wall, making space for my ghosted companion.









Susan Dashiell is a middle school teacher living in Bloomfield, NJ, who enjoys collaging and writing during quiet moments. Her work has appeared in Burnt Pine Magazine, The Seventh Wave, and Tiny Seed Literary Journal, to name a few.