After Sister’s funeral, neighbors bring tons of food. Mother sleeps, won’t eat nothing, but I’ll clean the kitchen, and play her records. She likes songs by the blind man with the w-o-n-d-e-r word in his name.

“You like that?” I whisper, hoping she’ll open her eyes, see-see-see, I am here.

Angela Carlton’s fiction has been published in Every Writer, Everyday Fiction, Pedestal Magazine, 6S, 50-Word Stories, Spillwords Press and Friday Flash Fiction. In 2022, “A Jigsaw Life,” a collection of stories was released. In 2023, her story “Swallowed,” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. See more on Facebook.