Fiction: Heather Sager
SIT
MOM TOLD ME I WAS HER BEST ONLY DAUGHTER AND I NEEDED TO SIT WITH GRANDPA BECAUSE OF THIS
BECAUSE OF MY BROTHERS THIS IS A TASK SHE COULD NOT ENJOY—MY BROTHERS HAVE LIVES AND I DO THIS FOR HER.
SHE DRIVES PLACES SHE IS A MOTHER
BUT WHEN MOM DROPS ME OFF I CAN TELL
GRANDPA DOES NOT WANT ME TO SIT WITH HIM
MY BROTHER DAVE IS HER FAVORITE—HE HAS BONED MANY GIRLS AND IS A BASKETBALL STAR. MOM DOESN’T KNOW FOR SURE ABOUT THE GIRLS BUT I THINK SHE SUSPECTS IT. HE ALSO PLAYS TRUMPET
MOM HAS ME SIT WITH GRANDPA, BUT HE DOES NOT SMILE
I WILL PRETEND TO WATCH TELEVISION—BECAUSE IT’S A HOSPITAL I CAN TELL THERE WILL BE NOTHING ON. BUT I CAN’T REACH IT SO I SIT IN THE CORNER THERE IS A HARD CHAIR
I’M AFRAID TO LOOK, THANKFULLY THE MAGAZINES LOOK GOOD AND PURPOSEFUL ON MY LAP. I CAN’T CONCENTRATE, SO I LOOK IN THE WINDOW AT THE PARKED CARS
I NOTICE, WHERE HE IS SITTING, HE LOOKS THE SAME
HIS HEAD HASN’T MOVED
HE LOOKS WORSE THAN USUAL
HE IS SITTING UNDER THE COVERS AND THE NURSE HAS NOT CAUGHT ANY OF HIS DRIBBLE
HIS FACE IS UNUSUALLY TAN FOR SPENDING TIME INDOORS
FOR MONTHS WHEN I WATCHED HIS HOME TELEVISION HE FROWNED AND MOM HAD TO DRIVE. HE FROWNED AND THEY APPLIED WIRES TO HIS BRAIN
NOW HE LOOKS WORSE THAN USUAL
I WISH I HAD A CAR
I’D GO TO THE PUBLIC LIBRARY, THEY HAVE ART BOOKS THERE. I LIKE LOOKING AT PICTURES FROM THE PRADO AND THE LOUVRE
I’D LIKE TO TRAVEL BUT AM AFRAID TO DO IT
I THINK I’LL STAY HERE WITH GRANDPA
ON THE PHONE MOM TALKS SOMETIMES
SHE SAYS, “I NEED HER”
Originally from southeast Minnesota, Heather Sager currently lives near Chicago. She has written short fiction for Columbia Journal Online, Untoward, Fourth & Sycamore, Minetta Review, Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, Jet Fuel Review, and Curbside Splendor eZine. Her poetry appears in Bear Review, Naugatuck River Review, Route 7 Review, NEAT, and BlazeVOX.
Image: wayfair.com
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