Blood Red Wishes
By
Isobella Stardust
Dawn makes a new wish every day.
She wishes to be beautiful; she wishes that somebody would love her the way they love Buffy.
She wishes she felt real; she only does when she makes her wishes
Every time she makes a wish, she makes a cut.
A single red welt on her belly, on her thigh.
Until every wish has a partner, until everything she sees is red.
Until everything she owns is hurt.
She lives for that moment, the contact of flesh on metal.
That rush; that superiority buzz - the accompanying cigarette.
Today she makes her self a promise.
Never to make a wish again.