That Was Then

“Mama?” I stood in the doorway of her dark bedroom. Light from the hall spilled around me and onto the bed where she lay, asleep, still in her skirt, blouse, and pantyhose.

I crossed the room and stood beside the bed. “Mama?” I touched her shoulder. She jerked awake. “Dinner’s ready,” I said.

“Oh.” She blinked in the light from the hall. “It is?” She sat up. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

She never meant to fall asleep, but as often as not when she came home from work, she needed to lie down for “just a second,” and an hour later, I’d have to wake her for dinner.

Read the rest over at The High Calling.