“Is there school tomorrow?” the old man asked.
“No, Dad, there's no school tomorrow,” his son answered.
“Why? Why not?”
“It's a snow day.”
“I'll get there early...”
“School's closed.”
“I really like school...Miss Hawthorne...”
“Miss Hawthorne?” that was a name he'd never heard.
“I like Miss Hawthorne.”
“You do, huh”
“I would like to marry her some day.”
“Oh! You really like Miss Hawthorne, do you?
“She's the best.”
“I bet she is. Is she pretty?”
“Yes, and highly intelligent.”
“Oh my, the whole package, is she?”
“When I was in the Navy...”
“You were in the Navy, Dad? That's the first I heard of it...”
“Before your time...”
“I guess so.”
“You were a good boy back then...”
“I was? But not so much so now?”
“Too much like your Mother.”
“Mom wasn't to your liking?”
“She was a hardheaded bitch.”
“And yet you spent fifty-three years together.”
“My mistake...she made me earn it”
“You can't take it back, Dad”
“Not like Miss Hawthorne at all.”
“Mom wasn't so bad...”
“Says you, her only son...”
“I don't know, Dad, Mom put up with you all those years...”
“Miss Hawthorne liked me. Miss Hawthorne loved me! I was her favorite. Should have married Miss Hawthorne...”
“If you say so. She'd be over a hundred by now.”
“I'm going to school tomorrow, snow or no snow.”
“Okay Dad, but you better get to bed early. We'll fix your lunch and lay out your clothes for you,
“You'd do that, boy?”
“I would Dad. Now get some sleep, you've got a big day ahead of you.”
“...my striped shirt...spiffy.”
“Sure thing, Dad.”
“You're a good boy.”
“I love you Dad.”
“Your Mother was a piece of work...I loved her.”
“I know, Dad, she was. Goodnight.”
On the eve of his eternal night.
V
