Whispered Prayers

by Alex Grayson

I gather the necessary ingredients and set to making hot chocolate. It’s a recipe my mom used when I was a kid. My mom was never the type to buy already prepared food. She made everything from scratch. She also made sure her kids knew how to cook. Gwen steps up beside me as I heat the milk in a saucepan. “Thank you for taking him with you. He doesn’t get the chance very often to spend time with a man and he needs that.” I look at her out the corner of my eye, and see her running her finger over a scratch on the counter surface. “It was no problem. He’s a good kid.” She nods. “He is. I hate knowing he’s not getting the experiences and advice he needs from his dad.” Her voice trails off, and I glance over at her. She’s looking at the wall ahead of her. There’s nothing there, so I know she’s in her own head, probably remembering something about her husband, or maybe silently wishing he was still here. It’s already painful that she lost her husband, but having to raise two kids on her own, knowing they’ll never see their dad again…. I can’t imagine the pain. “Seems like he’s doing okay to me,” I say, attempting to make her feel better. I don’t like knowing she’s in pain, which is strange for me, because it’s been a long time since I’ve really cared about how someone else feels. “Thanks,” she says. She grabs some mugs from the cabinet as I remove the pan from the burner and set it on a cool one. She watches as I finish making the hot chocolate. Neither of us say anything. Norma...