MOM’S VIGIL
She stood in the
window oblivious to the noise. All her focus on the street and the big clock on
the wall, as minutes ticked away. When the call came, in the middle of the
night, she thought the worst. It’s what every mother did. Late night calls never
bring good news, except this time. Unable to go back to sleep, she’d been cleaning,
dusting, changing linen, and baking all her favorite things.
Would she really come? She toyed with
the pearls hanging around her neck and glanced at the clock.
“No later than 11 o’clock, I promise, mom.”
The clock said 10:45am. A feeling of dread began to move up slowly from the pit
of her soul. Her chest tightened as tears of disappointment began pushing
upward. She glanced at the clock one last time, 11:30. Her hands trembled as
she reached up to pull the curtain closed when the knock on the door came.