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Back Meet Me at the Crossroads Save as PDF
Chapters (40)
  1. Cover
  2. Part One
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. Part Two
  13. Interstitial
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. Interstitial
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. Interstitial
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. Interstitial
  30. Part Three
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. Acknowledgments
  38. About the Author
  39. Also by Megan Giddings
  40. About the Publisher

Ayanna assumed she would fall asleep immediately, but instead stayed listening to Lisa. It was only when she heard her start snoring that her body began to relax. There wasn’t any satisfaction or certainty in her, just relief Lisa would probably be okay. If I keep living, Ayanna thought, the only way it’s possible is if I do something for other people. She did not think she had what it took to be a doctor or a therapist or even a bus driver, but it was worth thinking more about what that could look like. The world was filled with people in trouble, and it seemed like maybe the only true skill she had was being someone who didn’t want to look away when someone was in distress. It didn’t, she thought, make her an especially good person. Or someone who could give herself self-regard, but it was something. Ayanna sighed. Tried to relax her body even more. Her stomach grumbled. If she was a good person, Ayanna thought, she wouldn’t resent how often she noticed other people’s troubles, their negative emotions, and wonder why people couldn’t give her the same attention. The noticing only made her feel even more alone.

Day was stretching its way into the world. Ayanna realized that for the first time in weeks the room smelled fine; the most prevalent smell was the mints she had eaten as a desperate breakfast. Lisa rolled onto her back, back onto her side, the bed loudly announcing her movements. Ayanna shut her eyes. You should help people, she told herself, because you don’t want to tell Olivia that you wasted your life.

Interstitial

Once, the spirit sang and then there were stars. Then the stars sang and there were planets. The planets clapped and stamped until there were trees and seas and birds.

And when the first bird began to trill, the spirit was glad and rested. The spirit knew death would never know it because song and truth would forever echo. The whales joined, then the elephants, then the people.

The spirit sang back to them in a voice of lightning and mist of all the universe’s mysteries. Each tried to sing it back but the tune distorted. Words dropped, chords changed.

The spirit sang a command: Your time here should be spent finding a way to return to my melody.

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