the hand

This is the hand. The hand that helped her bounce on the moonwalk, for what seemed like hours, with her favorite cousin Ava. The hand that brought to her mouth an entire bag of puffy cheetos and not much else for lunch. The hand that searched the tall grass and bushes for the lovely plastic eggs containing prizes and chocolaty treats. The hand that came across something odd in the grass. The hand that lifted the dead baby bird to mommy in the middle of the Easter egg hunt. The hand that mommy grabbed onto quickly while hysterically screaming "DROP IT! DROP IT! DROP IT!" The hand that Aunt Andrea and mommy washed frantically with an antibacterial wipe. The hand that later unwrapped the sweet chocolaty treats and led them to her mouth (after mommy was certain the hand was absolutely free of all dead baby bird germs). The hand that lay limp over the edge of her carseat, dangling from her passed out body as we drove away from the festivities.