Sleeping Beauty


“Two killed, two in critical condition after an automobile accident,” the newsman with big teeth said. I tried to block out all that was said about the wreck, about my little brothers being killed; none of it was real—it couldn’t be. But still, I couldn’t sleep that night. Momma had always been such a careful driver, but one text message from Rick changed all that. Momma swerved hard when the headlights came over the hill.
Early the following morning, I overheard the nurses whisper, “she didn’t make it.” Terrified they were talking about Momma, I rushed to her room. Rick was there, flowers in hand and tears in eyes that stared straight through me. “There ain’t nothing we can do for her now,” he said. “It’s all my fault.” After that, I walked over and gave Momma a kiss, and like Sleeping Beauty, she woke up!  We talked for a long time, Rick just cried.

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