Freckle Inventory

Close up image of a freckled face.Freckles scatter across his face, neck, arms. They hide beneath clothing. A large one dots his ear. Five pepper his cheek. I’m not sure I’d take such careful inventory if my partner hadn’t told me how, months before we met, she bent down at the funeral home to press her lips to the freckle above her son’s mouth, one I still search for in photos seventeen years later. Now that we have a child together, I scan for new ones as he grows. Our son already has so many freckles, so many I hope I’m never forced to choose between.

Anslee Wolfe is a writer, photographer, and recovering crime reporter living in the Colorado mountains with her partner, son, two dogs, and a bearded dragon. She is fighting to expand rights for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

Photo Credit: Kayla Sawyer

 

5 Responses to “Freckle Inventory”

  1. Barbara Bunn says:

    Well written. Paints a picture of all parent’s worries.

  2. Randy Peyser says:

    Painfully beautiful!

  3. Cecilia says:

    Beautiful story! It really packs a punch in so little words.

  4. Andrea Damic says:

    So evocative!

  5. jeff says:

    powerful story in 100 words.

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