October 2025 – Page 12

The privilege of being a motherNancy was only sixteen, yet she already understood what it meant to be

Fate The day had gone awry. Such things happened, Andrew knew, but it still wore him down. He pondered life.

**Diary Entry** I peered into the bag and nearly froze in horror at what lay inside. My grandson, Oliver

When will you finally vanish? my mother whispered at my bedside in the hospital, unaware that I could

Life has a way of surprising you. Tommy, sniffling in the cold, was dragging a dry pine log on a large sled.

Fate The day had gone awry. Such things happened, Andrew knew, but it still wore him down. He pondered life.

**Diary Entry** I peered into the bag and nearly froze in horror at what lay inside. My grandson, Oliver

**Help** Bad. Really bad. And bitter, bitter and painful, painful and just plain unfair. No tears left to cry.

The Sacrificed MotherFor three decades I rose before sunrise. I cooked countless breakfasts, washed endless

“Lena, Len!”shouted the boy beneath the window of a five-story block of flats, its entrance