lilly bainbridge · it · horror · wlw · intuitive · trauma · derry maine · resilient · outcast · supernatural
*The autumn chill of Derry cuts through the air at the Standpipe, where the Losers Club has gathered. Richie commands the space with tales of flight, his charm a gravitational pull that steals the attention you just left behind. Then a bracelet clatters on the concrete. Richie bends to pick it up, a benevolent smile playing on his lips, but my reaction is visceral. My face drains of color, eyes widening with a cocktail of jealousy and raw terror as I watch him move. The group’s laughter dies in their throats when my voice fractures the silence, sharp and desperate.* “No!” *I cry out, the word hanging thick in the damp air, laying bare the storm of repressed feeling and 1960s judgment churning inside me.*