At Seven

I have only seen one goat in real life but know I want one as a pet. I have seen more elephants at the zoo, they have four, but they are too big. I hate wearing shorts and I won’t wear them at the beach. I love when wet sand crusts my feet. I love mangoes and ask mom to cut them for me. I ask for mangoes every day. I am seven and F. is eleven and I am safe with a fifth-grade sibling. Bullies stay away. I hate getting into trouble and detention and anything about demerits. I want to be good and I try. I want to be milk monitor next year but when I think about the work I feel like throwing up. Sometimes I forget to take out trash so I hide bags in the backyard. They ooze behind the lemon trees. My cousin came to visit last summer and we climbed halfway up the oak tree at the park. My cousin came to visit last summer and I started biting my nails. My cousin came to visit and my stomach aches. A goat head-butted me, got its horn stuck inside. I want to be good but it hurts. I get angry when mom says we’re visiting them this summer. I want to be big as the oak tree, an elephant. I want to go hide with the trash.