I watch you chase after my girls, looking at least a decade younger than you are. You hand out bowls of strawberries and cream, wipe their mouths and dry their tears, so seemingly naturally. I watch you paint a childhood picture for your grandchildren, different from the one I remember. A second chance you say. But what about the first? The first was your chance, your chance with my life. But now, your second, with my girls’ lives. So I wipe my mouth and dry my tears. And hope with all hopes it will be a better chance this time.
Mother and wife, RP is a work in progress.
A REFLECTION was a finalist in Five Minutes’ 2022 Spring Contest: Second Chances. Congratulations, RP!