Uncle Bert

I had answered the phone when the call came in. Uncle Gary had called to tell us that my Uncle Bert had been killed in a car accident. His voice shook as he told me, but I felt nothing. Uncle Bert didn't live in our town, and I hadn't seen him in years.

I ducked into my mother's bedroom while she lay reading on the bed. She popped up, excited to see me, and invited me to read with her. "Uncle Bert is dead," I blurted out watching the joy turn to horror. She hugged me tight and fell to her knees sobbing uncontrollably. Finally I felt something, but it was for my mom, not my dead uncle.