Gratitude, A Remembrance

Linking to Imperfect Prose on Thursdays where Emily says we can submit old or new writings~~
this happens to be something old but a memory I like to recall now and then.

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I rise in the early morning quiet to dress for school.

 Then, turning out the lights, I wait in the dark for the bus to come.

Behind me, I hear the sound of her steps on the stairs.

"Did you get enough to eat?"

"Yes."

"Do you have everything you need?"

Her arms hold me close and her kiss brushes my cheek.

The bus comes in the distance, its headlights bobbing over the bumps on the washboard road~~

the sight of the lights past Hochstetter's house are my signal.

 If I run fast enough, I can meet the bus as Shorty opens the doors, leap the steps,

 and catch my seat before the doors slap shut behind me.

"Run! And have a good day!"

I run, the wind at my back.

The warmth of the house and my mother's tenderness

 blow me like a kiss down the long, dark lane.

Yes, I have everything I need.

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