So what did you get for Christmas?

Yelled at.

Yikes, what happened?

I breathed, that’s what happened.
I came in late from work and mom got ticked off.

How late?

Just a few minutes.

…really…?

Well, maybe an hour.  Okay, two hours.
But I had to work late and I didn’t want to wait an hour
for my bus so I decided to take a short cut.

Didn’t you call, let her know why you’d be late?

…er…Angry Birds eats up a lotta juice.

Still, two hours.  Weren’t you cold?

I had my parka.  ‘Sides, the wind gets blocked by…

By what?

Never mind.  Skip it.

Where were you?

None of your business!

Geeze, what were you doing?  Getting baked?

Hey, I’m clean and sober and I’ve got
the gosh-darn urine tests to prove it?

Meeting somebody?  …Serenity? 
Were you meeting somebody?

I was talking to somebody.

I thought your phone was dead.

It was.  I wasn’t using my phone.

You met somebody?

Kinda…

Oooooooh!  Anybody I know?

You say you know him.

???

Okay, don’t tell a soul about this…

Oh, wow!  Have you been hooking up with somebody?

I’ve been praying.

Yeah, and I’m Lady Gaga on weekends.  Spill!

I am spilling.  This…this ain’t easy for me.
You know I’m still kinda new to this stuff.

You have a great tendency to make up for lost time.
Where were you “praying”?

Hey, if you’re not gonna believe me then go take a flying –

Okay, okay, chill.  …so…where were you?

I kinda found this place not far from where I live.
You know where those trees are?

You went there at night?!?!? 
I’d be scared to go there in the daytime!

It’s not so bad.  Anyway, I found a place where
you can’t see any buildings, can’t hear any traffic…

Oh, great.  This week on CSI:  The Serenity Harper Case.

Shut up!  It’s not like that.  It’s…nice.
Quiet.  Gives me a chance to think.

Okay, now I know I’m trippin’.  Did you just say “think”?

Yeah, I know.  Freaks me out, too.
So anyhoo, I go there when I’ve got
stuff on my mind, stuff that’s bugging me.

What kinda stuff?   Derek stuff?

Sometimes…but not as often as you think…
…at least, not recently.  Nah, mostly I’ve been thinking
about the past, about how stupid I’ve acted.

Testify.

Yeah, tell me about it.  But ya wanna know what’s scarier?
I’m starting to think about the future, about how I don’t wanna
act stupid again…only I’m afraid I don’t know how not to.

Hey, we all feel like that.  Anybody who isn’t afraid they’ll screw up
is too dumb to know they’ve already screwed up.

That woulda been me a few months back.  Thanx.

Hey, you’re getting better!

I dunno.  Anyway, I went out to this spot
where I like to think and pray and, I dunno,
just lost track of time.  I got to talking to God
and wondering if there would be any answer
and they I realized just how calm and quiet
and peaceful everything was…

Serene?

Huh?

Never mind.  Go on.

So anyhoo, it kinda finally sunk in on me that maybe this was my answer:
  Not to worry, just have faith and let everything be.
  And I started feeling rilly happy, like maybe this
is gonna be the year I turned everything around.
  And I went home and I was feeling rilly good…
…but mom was there and she was p.o.ed to the max
and she said she got worried sick and where was I
and she wanted to smell my breath to see
if I had been partying and I told her
to go have fun with herself –

You didn’t!

I did — but wait, it gets better:
  She told me to go have fun with myself
and we yelled some more and then we went
to our rooms and we slammed our doors
and neither of us came out until noon.

Oh Christmas?!?!?

On Christmas.
  And things have been kinda tense since then.

No duh!

New Year’s I thought I’d make up peace offering, stay home with her –

Yeah, we missed you.

I missed you, too.  But mom made other plans
and didn’t tell me and she didn’t come home until 3 a.m.
and when she did, she was baked.

Geeze…

Yeah.

What did you say?  What did you do?

What could I do?  I’m not her mom, she’s supposed to be mine!
  But…I kinda got to thinking about all the crappy ways I’d treated her,
how I made her worry…made her sick with worry…geeze,
ya see what I mean about thinking’ over how stupid I’ve been?

So what now?

I dunno what now.  Maybe…maybe that’s what
I was supposed to have figured out in the woods,
to just be at peace and let everything happen.
  That’s all I can do.

Word.