Full of
Hope
By Danyele Chance
T
he holidays had been difficult on her
since her mother died three years ago.
Sometimes it seemed as if she had
passed away only yesterday, the pain was so sharp,
and other times it felt like a lifetime since she had
seen her mother slowly waste away in a hospital
bed while the doctors watched helplessly.
Cancer. The word still left a bitter taste in her
mouth. Cancer was a thief that had taken her
mother from her before she was ready to let go.
Some days it was all she could do to keep going, to
eat, sleep, work, and read as if she were still whole
inside. As if nothing at all had changed.
DOZ Magazine | November 2018
It was a lie. Her entire life had been ripped apart
the day her mother died.
Now, Hope took a deep breath of the icy December
air. Mom, I still miss you. So much. The words
thought but not said aloud, did nothing to ease
the ache inside her. She stood on Main Avenue
the day before Christmas, gazing unseeingly into
the display window of the department store.
Christmas is tomorrow, and I should be happy, she
knew. Would the pain ever leave?
Breathing a sigh, Hope turned away from the
window and began walking down the sidewalk.
Even among dozens of other people rushing to get
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