The Little House

I never thought that one day Grandma and Grandpa would live in a cramped little house.

The first time I saw Grandma was during summer vacation from kindergarten. Mom had hit me for sneaking off to play, and Grandma bought me candy to cheer me up.

The last time I saw Grandma was during summer vacation three years later. I'd gone out without an umbrella, and in the middle of the night I came down with a fever. Grandma woke me and gave me medicine, and I said something that hurt her.

Once I came to my senses and realized I'd been wrong, I made a cake at a bakery and apologized to her.

In the first semester of fourth grade, I saw Mom going back and forth to the hospital at all sorts of hours every day. She told me Grandma was sick. As far as I knew, being sick just meant catching a cold or getting a fever, and medicine would eventually make you better.

During summer vacation, we received the terrible news that Grandma had passed away. That summer, I was nine years old.

"I don't know how much longer I can be with you."

"Until the very last moment of my life."

"If time could turn back to that minute..."

"The moment I was born, I cried and you smiled."

[Entire story is told in first person. Please don't read if that's not for you.]

Theme: No one can stay with us forever.