Kissing doorknobs

During her preschool years, Tara Sullivan lived in terror that something bad would happen to her mother while they were apart. In grade school, she panicked during the practice fire drills. Practice for what?, Tara asked. For the upcoming disaster that was bound to happen?

Then, at the age of 11, it happened. Tara heard the phrase that changed her life: Step on a crack, break your mother's back. Before Tara knew it, she was counting every crack in the sidewalk. Over time, Tara's "quirks" grew and developed: arranging her meals on plates, nonstop prayer rituals, until she developed a new ritual wherin she kissed her fingers and touched doorknobs....

Step on a crack, break your mother's back! The first time I heard that stupid rhyme was when I was eleven years old and still in possession of my own thoughts. At first I thought the rhyme was stupid.   Step on a crack, break your mother's back! When I couldn't get it out of my head, I thought it was annoying.   Step on a crack, break your mother's back! Finally I thought it was scary.  But no matter what I thought about it, I couldn't stop thinking it.  Actually, it was more as if I couldn't stop hearing it in my head over and over again. I heard it while I was brushing my teeth, Step on a crack, break your mother's back! eating dinner, Step on a crack, break your mother's back! doing my homework, Step on a crack, break your mother's back! having a conversation, Step on a crack, break your mother's back! and falling asleep. It was like listening to the sound track of a movie that I wasn't watching.  A weird time-release audio torment stuck on Replay in my brain.  Even now, I'm fourteen years old and just thinking about it makes me tap it with my feet.   Step on a crack, break your mother's back!   Nine syllables.  Uneven.  I hate that. Excerpted from Kissing Doornobs by Terry Spencer Hesser All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.