Beating Heart by A. M. Jenkins

has finally faded.
    He shuts the closet door and looks around at the few beloved posters on the white walls, at the familiar windows now dark with night. The room doesn’t seem strange or foreign anymore. He’s been here long enough, he guesses, that it has finally become his .
    He changes clothes, and as he climbs into bed, he thinks it’s weird how he doesn’t miss Carrie yet. He’s pretty tired, but—at this moment—he doesn’t feel sad, or lonely, or desperate, or guilty.
    Right now, what he feels is peaceful .

I watch this one
    slide slowly into sleep
    bare, muscled shoulders
    Â 
    chest rises and falls
    Â 
    his breath
    is shallow
    Â 
    quick
    Â 
    Â 
    I never felt the knots
    till they
    unraveled
    Â 
    never saw the ties
    till they
    dropped loose
    Â 
    never knew that I was
    clinging to debris
    in someone else’s wake.
    Â 
    Â 
    He has
    gone.
    Â 
    He left
    long
    ago.
    Â 
    Â 
    This house
    Â 
    is
    Â 
    glass, wood, plaster,
    Â 
    tile, paper, concrete, iron
    Â 
    Â 
    while
    Â 
    I
    Â 
    am only
    a
    whisper
    Â 
    and
    Â 
    an
    echo.
    Â 
    Â 
    And
    Â 
    all I ever had to do was
    Â 
    let
    Â 
    go.
    Â 
    Â 
    I watch
    this one’s breathing grow
    relaxed, deep
    Â 
    safe.
    Â 
    Â 
    Night
    becomes
    dawn
    becomes
    day.
    Â 
    Â 
    The front door
    opens.
    The air stirs.
    Â 
    Â 
    I
    roll like a wave
    rise
    to a crest
    Â 
    then
    spread freely
    dissolve around the edges
    Â 
    unfurl
    Â 
    into
    Â 
    the
    light.

About the Author
    A. M. JENKINS is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of REPOSSESSED , a Michael L. Printz Honor Book; DAMAGE , an ALA Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults; BREAKING BOXES , winner of the California Young Reader Medal; and, most recently, NIGHT ROAD .
    Jenkins lives in Benbrook, Texas.
    Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

ALSO BY A. M. JENKINS
    Damage
    Out of Order
    Repossessed
    Night Road

Credits
    Cover photograph © 2009 by Jan Bickerton/Trevillion Images
    Cover design by Kristina Albertson

Copyright
    BEATING HEART : A Ghost Story. Copyright © 2006 by A. M. Jenkins. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
    Adobe Digital Edition July 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-196455-8
    10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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