One,
Consistency in the taste of my order from Dunkin.
Seriously, there are three in town and not one of them has ever given me a drink that tastes remotely the same.
Two,
A nice sunny day on a lake somewhere with a hammock, my dog, and a good book.
It doesn’t have to be that good of a book… honestly, the trashier the better –
Three,
A chocolate milkshake.
One of the good ones – full fat, homemade whipped cream, and a cherry on top.
Throw in a scoop of peanut butter for funsies.
Four,
My name printed on the cover of the Next Great American Novel
or, one of those trashy novels with the covers you have to hide from your mom.
I’m not picky.
Five,
Spiders.
They crawl into my ears at night and build nests in my brain.
Six,
That my nephews grow up knowing that being a Good Man means being kind.
Its means being good. It means being safe.
And that no one, not a single person ever, will care how much they can bench.
Seven,
That my niece will always know she is beautiful.
But more importantly, that she is smart and capable.
And if she ever needs help hiding a body, I’m her girl.
Eight,
Every embarrassing thing I’ve ever said or done.
On repeat, over and over again – like a poorly written low-budget film
that I don’t want to keep watching, but I can’t turn it off.
Nine,
That one day I’ll be able to look in the mirror and not flinch.
That I’ll love the person staring back at me, instead of picking apart her flaws.
And number 10, the thing I dream about with the most alarming frequency…..
…..Clowns.
Ya’ll remember 2016?
No, thank you.
—
Mikayla Moore enjoys coffee, long naps, and a good book. She lives in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and currently attends Hagerstown Community College where she’s studying English. When she grows up, Mikayla wants to be an English teacher so that she can help others find the same joy in reading that she does.