It was late at night when Matt crept out of bed. He did not want to wake his elderly mother.

Matt was 33, young, good looking, and strong. He still came and stayed with his mother once in a while, for her sake. Carol, his mother, was a lonely old woman. She bore two children in her life, but Matt was the only surviving. Her daughter, Diane, had died almost a year ago at the young age of twenty-two. She had been a bystander at a bar fight when a gun was pulled. A rouge bullet had accidently pierced her heart. That same night Carol had told Matt to stay with his sister, but he didn’t. He thought she was old enough to hold her own. He never stopped blaming himself for her passing. Often times when Matt was at Carol’s she would wonder, “When is Diane expected back?” He did not have the heart to tell her, again, that Diane was dead.

Silently gliding to the kitchen, he opened the cupboards and took a quick inventory. They were bare, a half a loaf of moldy bread and a can of tuna. His heart dropped in his stomach for his mother; she never told him she didn’t have food. Moving to the fridge he saw a container of milk and a stick of butter. He didn’t even bother to check the freezer, he was pretty sure it would be empty also. Keys in hand he set off to the store…



“Matt, Matt, have you seen my other red shoe?!” Diane yelled to the kitchen.“I don’t live here, I wouldn’t know”, Matt replied back smartly. “But you’re going to be late, better get going. Be careful, and remember sis, I love you”….


Driving to the store he couldn’t get the memory out of his head as a warm wet tear dripped down his face, leaving a river of soft damp skin. He shook his head, as if to shake the memories out of his head, and wiped his cheek.
He briskly walked through the parking lot to Jones’s Grocery. He grabbed a cart and started off. He wanted to find food that would be easy for his mother to make, like ready for the oven lasagna or frozen pizza. He grabbed a few of both and some TV dinners. Then fruits and vegetables piled the cart and a few pounds of meat. He tossed in a couple boxes of cereal and a fresh gallon of milk, he was sure the one at the house was spoiled. At the check out stand he grabbed a couple of gossip magazines for her and her favorite candy bar. It was getting late, “I better get back,” he decided….


“Mattew, Mattew”, cried little Diane. “Help me! Help me!”Matt came running into the bathroom to where his sister was,”what is it?” All he heard was a giggle escape Diane’s lips. He opened the door and stepped in, he sees water puddles all over the floor, with Diane fully clothed, and playing in the bath tub.“Come on its fun”, Diane tries to explain to her brother through her laughs…..


After arriving back at his mother’s house, he brings all the groceries in and sets them down silently on the granite counter top. After listlessly outing the food away he takes a moment to sit and rest on his mom’s lazy chair. As he sits he thinks about his mim and how she has changed since, since, the death. He feels he will never get over the guilt he feels and he knows some how this guilt that he has is going to affect him in the future, keep him from advancing, progressing.

Twelve a.m. turns to one a.m. and Matt dozes off.As morning roles around, he is still fats asleep in the chair, his mother creaks slowly down the stairs, opens the fridge, and revealed the contents. Excitedly she yells, “Matt, come in here. Diane came home last night and brought me food!”

Matt heard these words and an unstoppable stream of tears began to run down his face.