“I can do it!” little Andrew said, “who wants more corn?”
Mommy’s good boy, he picked up the empty crystal bowl and walked from the picnic table on the porch through the propped-open screen door. It was the august sun beaming on the crown of his head, the sounds of laugher and sweet smells of lemonade and charcoal briquettes. In the kitchen now, it was dim and dense with heat. A familiar gravity bit.
It pulled the heavy etched glass through his tiny hamburger greased fingers. Starting with his too-big ears, the red hot blood filled his head — drowning even before the bowl hit linoleum. Swooping down, he grabbed a large fragment with his left hand then steadying himself with the other on the floor. In terror he lifted his right palm to his face looking at the shards stuck to his palm. It was over. All life left his body as it slouched completely onto the floor of glass crumbles. Mouth agape, melty tears leaked through closed eyelashes. Don’t make a sound. He prayed. It was only a matter of time before his world and the world of the front porch would collide. Minutes or hours later, he heard the footsteps approaching “Andy?! What happened to you??”
Here it comes. His heart beat sharply in his chest. Opening his eyes, he saw his mothers expression turn from “what are you doing on the floor silly?” to “how could you!?” She fell to her knees and wailed “that was grammom’s bowl!” Her hands came to cover her face, and muffled her sobs. Andrew crawled over, stood up on his knees and wrapped his arms around her as tight as he could. They cried together. “I’m so sorry momma…” “I’m sorry mommy… I love you!” After a few cleansing breaths she wiped away her tears and slid her arms around Andrew’s back. “It’s ok Andrew… it will be ok” she said.
Andrew kneeled holding the dust pan down as they swept up the deceased. Mommy’s good boy. Carefully he tipped dust pan into an empty paper shopping bag, which his mother then neatly tucked into the kitchen trashcan. The sun was dipping low in the sky when the re-entered the world of the front porch together. The corn had been long forgotten and the people were standing up, shuffling paper cups and plates. It was over. Time to clean up.
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