Whispered Prayers

by Alex Grayson

“WHERE YA GOING?” The question comes from behind me. I turn around as I’m zipping up my jacket and face Daniel. He’s holding a black puppy to his chest as he looks up at me. “Gotta go check on the horses,” I reply. His eyes get big and his mouth drops open. The surprise doesn’t last long before he’s practically bouncing on his feet. I’ve noticed since they’ve been here that the kid is hyper. The complete opposite of his sister. “I didn’t know you had horses!” he says excitedly. “I wanna see them! Can I come with you?” I glance over to the door in the kitchen that leads to a small laundry room where Gwen’s doing her and the kids’ laundry, then look back down at Daniel. With the eager way he’s watching me, there’s no way I can deny this kid, even if I wanted to. And to my surprise, I find that I don’t want to. His exuberant demeanor and honesty is refreshing. I’ve rarely been around kids, except for my sister Christa’s daughter, who’s only two years old. I’ve only seen the toddler twice, and both times I’ve kept my distance, the painful reminder of what I almost had keeping me from bonding with her. I’m a shit uncle and have apologized to Christa for being so. She says she understands, and I’m sure she does, but I’ve seen the look in her eyes when she’s visited those couple of times. I’ve seen the sadness lurking when I purposely put space between me and her daughter. I reach for my gloves and lift my chin toward the kitchen. “Go ask your mom.” “Yah!” he yells, then turns on...