Ashley Alleyne Van-De-Cruize

“Scooch your bottom up just a bit," she says.

Silence is welcomed when beckoned, right? When we want to study, read for leisure, or do homework, we extend an invitation to the silence. But when no one reaches out, and it still shows up, what do we do?

I'm supposed to be seeing him every Wednesday at 4pm. "Consistency is vital," he'd say. Yet here I am, in his office waiting room, at noon on a Friday. Friday was better for me this week; I had things and appointments or whatever.

So, I don't know if you've heard of it, but there's this thing called “sublicide.” Allow me to explain: In the wild, amongst animals, specifically birds, sublicide is a term used to describe the brutal murder of a sibling, for the sole purpose of simply surviving. If there are less mouths to feed, the surviving mouth gets fed more, obviously.