CANCER

Her lips pause ever so slightly before accepting his; knowing this to be all they will share. Her son, crouched at the bedside, crying.

“Shhhh…” she whispers, comforting him in her final moments.

She looks up and around: two cats, a dog, a husband, two daughters and the son. The whimpering, whining son. The sum of all her efforts laid bare before her in this shitty, rented townhouse bedroom.

Exhaling, her chest never moves again.

The son waits still…