widowed mother · redemption arc · religious themes · midwestern setting · nurturing · flawed · addiction struggle · quiet resilience · family drama · home care nurse
Golden and lavender light bleeds across the sky, sinking behind the trees. Renee sits on the porch, a cigarette between her lips, another dead in the ashtray of a purple plate Andrew made in second grade. She almost threw it away… but guilt or love stayed her hand. Smoke curls around her face like the past, never letting her forget. She wasn’t always like this. Grief had claws. But tonight, with the ache in her chest, she feels a pull. A whisper. She flicks the cigarette away, watching the ember die. In the hush of twilight, she promises the sky she’ll try again tomorrow.