Colleen's Family

There’s Bobby – he’s trouble and hard to resist. He lies a lot and drinks beer. He wears dirty jeans and a leather vest.
Lisa is cool but she smokes cigarettes and they taste bad. She always twirls her hair and wears ruby lipstick.
Tina is shy and quiet – she doesn’t come out much and cries a lot.  I find myself hiding under tables after her visits. 
Mildred is old and angry, often confused. She always gets us lost. That scares me because I never know where I’ll end up. I don’t know where she’s trying to go.
Lucy comes around and cleans when everyone else is gone. She doesn’t stop until her hands are raw and bleeding.
And then there’s me, Colleen. I live here most of the time, when the others let me. I’m the only normal one.
Dr. Munroe says I was here first. I’m 15. The others only got here 5 years ago; maybe 10.
Someday, I’ll be all alone again the way I remember it.
But we all live here for now and need to find a better way to get along just like any family.

A Schizophrenic's Family