Star ManMy mother stood at the edge of the bed. It was 2:00 a.m. and she'd just grabbed me by the foot and shaken me awake. "Mom! You're alive!" "If you say so." "And you have hair!" "It grew back." I tried to sit up but I was still half asleep and it was a struggle. "Relax, Heather," she said. "I'm only here for a minute or two." "Huh?" "I just wanted to tell you to stay away from that guy." "What guy?" I asked nervously, glancing over at my husband. He was snoring. "Johnny!" I hissed. "My mother's here." He continued snoring. My mother reached out the open window and grabbed a handful of stars from the sky. She threw them up in the air and they formed a man. I checked to see if my husband was still asleep. Star man was next to me instead. And star man now resembled my son's second grade teacher. My mother perched on top of our armoire, swinging her legs. "He's going to burn up upon entry," she remarked. "Don't they all?" "That's your fault, Heather." "True." "And you'll never change, will you?" she scowled. "Nope." I looked over at star man with narrowed eyes. My mother shook her head. Her image grew fainter and fainter until I could barely see her silhouette. And then she was gone. A few hours later the alarm rang. My husband moaned and reached to shut it off. "Morning," I said cheerfully. "Urf," he replied. "Guess what? My mother came for a visit last night." "Oh God." He put the pillow over his head. "Did she give you the winning numbers for tonight's Powerball lottery?" "No. She gave me a man made out of stars." "Oh yeah?" He removed the pillow and looked around. "So where is he?" "I have no idea." "What a surprise." He got up, stretched, and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. I smiled and swept the small mound of ashes on my night table to the carpet below.  |
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