Nicole Efford is a senior at the College of William and Mary, majoring in English and minoring in Creative Writing.
Breakfast with Mom
Mara cracked two eggs and put bread in the toaster. “Mom,” she said to her mother, who was slumped over the kitchen table, “wake up.” She began to scramble the eggs, mumbling, “I can’t believe this. Couldn’t stay clean for even a week.”
Mara stepped toward the table, “Mom, get up.” She shook her mother, then took her cold hand. “Mom?”
Her mother’s ghost sat next to her body. “I was so unhappy, you had to understand,” the ghost said. Mara couldn’t hear her. Her mother’s ghost tried to wipe away her daughter’s tears, but they couldn’t feel each other.
The toaster popped up.