Chapter 6

Mommy insisted on staying back with me, so Uncle James and Aunt Natalie went home first.

The sky went dark. I reached out to hug Mommy. I knew she could not feel me, but I still wanted to comfort her. "Don't be sad anymore, Mommy. You have to be happy even without me!"

"My poor Kenny... You have to sleep alone in the dark and cold ground, even though you're still so young... Even though you are afraid of the dark...

"It was all my fault. I knew he didn't love me, so I shouldn't have insisted. If I had just gotten that divorce earlier, you wouldn't have died."

Mommy seemed to have an endless amount of things to say.

I sat next to her, leaning against her shoulder, just like all those nights when she told me bedtime stories.

Just as I was about to doze off, I was awoken by a flurry of footsteps.

Mommy had already gotten up, her senses alert.

It was Daddy.

His clothes were a mess, and his face was pale. When he saw my photo on the gravestone, I actually caught a flash of grief in