Humble Servant_Deserving_Eat the Cake_Fleeing Family
Catalog Guide:
Humble Servant
Reading over the first draft of grandma’s obit, I noticed some curious ambiguity; “She died in a Morganton Hospital.” The actual name of the institution wasn’t mentioned, as often was the case when I read other obits for ideas: “Martha Evaline Campbell, age 84, of Jonas Ridge, NC, came home to her Lord and savior after a long fight with cancer at Grace Memorial Hospital.” Curious, but not confusing. Grandma spent the last several months at Broughton, the regional psychiatric hospital. This is where you can be involuntarily committed if the state deems you, according to official criteria, “harm...
Deserving
“Mum,” I paused and checked the time, “Mum?” Another pause, “Listen, I would really love to keep chatting, but I have to go.” The voice on the other end kept going on and on about the weather for the weekend and her garden. “That’s great mum, but I’m going to go now. I love you.” Before she could respond I hung up the phone as the front door swung open.I quickly dropped the phone face down on the couch and pretended to be focused on the television. A news broadcaster discussed new evidence in a case against a man accused of murdering his pregnant wife and their two small children. I listened...
Eat the Cake
I always get sick the day before the talent show.Some think it’s the Ghost of What’s to Come, because you know you’ll be sick the next day. All over town, stomachs turn over and twist when February 8th is around the corner.Being the band-aid ripper that I am, I’m always the first to show up at town hall. Why prolong the inevitable? I put on my loosest jeans and my biggest sunglasses, and I report for duty.Crystal is waiting with the clipboard when I roll up to the folding table that gets trotted out once a year for this very purpose. She barely looks up as I approach, and I’m reminded of the t...
Fleeing Family
—To all the people who've suffered from the Israel-Palestine Conflict.——————————I sit in absolute confusion as I watch the night sky turn to day. Are they fireworks? No, they can’t be. I don’t recall any holiday that’s supposed to be today. They do sound like them though. But what are they?Like when the fireworks go off, I can feel the vibration resonate in me. They make everything shake, each faraway boom rattling every window, including mine. I peek outside my bedroom window and watch as another firework shoots up into the sky, only to explode by anwww.onedoor.ccother firework from the other side.Mama’s ...