Helen+Stevenson

Helen Stevenson By Erin Smith

The Perfect Life. I Deserve it. But you took it from me.

Father raised me in perfection. No mistakes in grammar, Broadening my world with detailed trips. Some would say a hypochondriac, But barely compared to you. You took my sanity.

An innocent boy. To me that’s all you were. Letters stringing words to each other, Connecting us through time. From down the street to down the aisle. You took my love when you left.

Through all this spite came my life. My children, Buffie and Adlai. I clung to them as my hobby, Took them for months to the beauty of other lands, Not letting time run their life. But you, you took my time.

You made me abandon my children, Go on a brisk walk with you. It only took one second. With your caliber rifle, Adlai made one shot. Ruth Merwin took one wrong step. You took her life.

No more falling for your tricks, I would never strand them again. We would never be separated. And even you couldn’t take that away.

Ironic that a heart attack would be your killer. I didn’t bother showing up to your funeral. I saw my troubles buried with you. You only gave me what you had to, Asked that I not be buried near you. This is the one gift you gave me.

I spent my life a devoted mother, A benefit to my community. How did I end up here? In and out of this sanitarium, Just an asylum for the wealthy. Illness ended my life, But it was over when I met you.

Helen Louis Davis Stevenson By Katie Newport  At first, life was perfect. I was the favorite child of my meticulous father. My family was one of the most respected in town. And I knew him. Lewis. He was just like me, you see. We came from the same lifestyle, liked the same things. We were inseparable. But as time passed, I realized that Lewis was more like my father than I had thought, And in more ways that I had realized. He was meticulous, But he was always ill. Always. Our wedding was the most beautiful that this town has ever seen. Even the President sent us his congratulations! But it only went downhill from there. I failed as a wife. He was not happy, I was not happy, And my children were the only enjoyable part of my life. I lived my own life through theirs, Shaping their health And shaping their habits. They needed me to be there. The // one // time that I left them alone, in order to spend time with my husband, My son accidentally shot the neighbor girl. He had thought that the gun was empty, But he was wrong. Eventually, I grew as sick as my husband. I had to go to the sanitarium and receive treatment. I had to leave my children alone, And they left me alone. Alone in the end.