Pebble Monster | Simran Ahira

She collects friends like pebbles

And keeps them in a glass jar

On her mantelpiece

For all to see

She likes to take them out

And play with them

Sometimes she’ll pop one in her mouth

And spit it out again

So that it is all shiny with her saliva

She likes lining them up in different arrangements

She likes how the yellowish and blueish one look next to each other

When she is very sad

She will take out her favourite

And hold it tightly in her hand

For hours

Her palm warming the stone

Her current favourite is a pinkish brownish colour

Almost perfectly oval

She keeps it at the top of the jar

Easily accessible in emergencies

One day, she notices a scratch on the pinkish brownish pebble

Yuck!

To the bottom of the jar it goes

Crushed by the weight of the rest

It waits patiently

Hoping she has another to hold on her tearful nights

And missing her warmth.