Janelle Meraz Hooper

“Are you still there?” Aggie asked the old woman under her bed…

Sometimes we forget that everyone else is living their moment while we’re busy living ours…

“Are you still there?” Aggie asked as she picked up her slipper and beat the metal bed frame underneath the mattress. “Well, you’d better get out from under there and go home—wherever that is—I’ve got company coming and she’s going to need the bed.” Aggie leaned way over the edge of her mattress to peer at the woman who was stretched out underneath her bed. “And while you’re at it, take off those goofy red socks. It’s the middle of summer for Christ’s sake!”

There was no answer to Aggie’s scolding; there never was. The old lady went on talking anyway while she beat her pillow into a more comfortable shape. “I don’t know what’s become of the neighborhood. This was a good place when I moved in here thirteen years ago. Now they’ve got the likes of you running in and out of people’s houses. I keep the doors locked—how do you get in here anyway?”

Silence.

From my short story book, Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories

Psst! If you have a library card, ask your library to order it for you. Some libraries even have Kindle books now!

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