Short Story

“We’ll have to call Cress,” Mr. Delahanty said finally. “Your father’s likely not to last out the night. She’s his only grandchild. She ought to be here.”

Turning off the TV, Andrew grabbed his keys and rushed to the garage, angry for not being more cautious. Driving down the street as fast as he could to get to the cleaners, he said, “I wonder if Margaret has her phone. I will call it,” he said, pushing the buttons, he waited, and said, “Oh, no; it went directly to voice mail. She must have turned it off, but why would she do that?”

"Edna baby," Lucille Henderson said, "I 'd love you to really know Bill Jameson. Bill - Edna Phillips. Or have you two birds met already?"

“You used adrenaline,” stated the mother, her hoarse voice crackled. She glided her hand across her eldest daughter causing her eyes water, “Then I guess it's time.”

After taking a deep, calming breath, he opened his eyes and gave the young intern an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled. It’s just… I was there; I saw what they did to him and… Shit! He’s my friend, and I just want to know if he’s okay!”

For a moment, they shared silence as her soft yellow dress tattered in the breeze. The angle of his chin and the tears in his eyes told her that he likely knew about her grandma. “I'm so awfully sorry about your abuelita. So sorry.”

“I need to visit her,” he said, leaving the recycle center and drove down the street. Arriving at the cemetery, Mr. Cassidy parked on the side of the road, walked down the pathway lined with tall tombstones and stopped at the one with Helen Cassidy’s name across the top. “Hello, sweetheart, I love you and wish you were here,” he said, sitting down on the grass beside the

“Adam Jones had only lived 23 years of his life and been married for 3 days. A good man has been taken from us. At this time, would Avery Jones like to say a few words?” The pastor said. Avery didn’t know how to react to her husband's death. She has gone into deep depression. Her response was, “No.” she knew that if she were to say a few words that it would completely break her heart and she would never recover from her loss. All she could say at the funeral was, “Goodbye,

“I remember Addie- she was your mother’s nanny. I did not know she was still alive- she must be nearly eighty- her and Grandmother are about the same age. Did you know that Addie came into the Harris household when Granddaddy and Grandmother married… before she was your mother’s nanny, she was Grandmother’s personal servant?”

“He’s doing a lot better, Aunt Sue. He actually seems to like his new job at the accounting firm and he’s made a few friends in the city.”

“Miss Fern,” his voice seemed sharper and less controlled than when they first met. “We need to catch the person who did those awful things to you and your friends, but that can only happen if you tell me from the start what all occurred from the moment he first made contact with you. Do you understand what I’m saying, Miss Fern?”

“My daughter, Jessica, was waiting at the hospital when we arrived. She looked at me with contempt and disgust in her eyes. I knew she hated me. When they took me in the E. R . she was hysterical and threw a cup of hot coffee on me. ‘It was your fault my mother is dead,’” she

“Quiet! Both of you!” Olenna’s voice boomed overtop of her arguing offspring. Although she didn’t stand from her seat she took control of the room with four simple words, “You’re both too old to behave this way. Squabbling like children, it’s truly deplorable. Mace, I told you to break the news to her gently! And Alayna, it wasn’t solely Mace’s decision. It’s time you do what is expected of you and fulfill your duty to our house.”

Joshua led the paramedics upstairs. A few minutes later, one of the paramedics came out of the bedroom and said, “Sorry, she passed away hours ago. I’ll make the calls.”