Author’s Note:

A Head Like Yours

Perhaps the weirdest thing about this piece is its inspiration: a loose flyer for a kindergarten performance that I found on the sidewalk one fall afternoon. “With My Head and My Hands, I Can Do Anything!” Maybe it was the gritty bootprint mashed over the cheery font. Maybe it was because Halloween candy had just started sneaking into grocery stores for the year, and pumpkins had begun appearing on front porches overnight, guarding the houses’ entrances like lumpy orange gargoyles. Maybe it was just because I was sleep-deprived from working the swing shift for two straight weeks. But something about this struck me as inexplicably creepy.

Once I started writing the story, and I followed the loose thread through the darkness and found out where it led, I realized I’d been wrong. It wasn’t just creepy. It was horrifying.