One December

Me and my friends went out to play
With ropes and balls we played all day
Then I looked up in the sky and saw the fallen sun
And I thought to myself "Home we must run!"

When I got home, dinner was waiting
I was so hungry, I ate without a saying
When I was done, it was time for bed
But I had too many thoughts whizzing around in my head
An hour or two later, I was catching Z's
Until I heard my brother sneeze

When I woke up on the next day
I heard the doctor to my mother say
"I'm sorry but I don't think he'll recover."
Then me and my sister looked at each other
I said, "Oh, no, this can't be good!"
I'll go for mom to the shack for wood.
And when I get back, we'll light a fire
We'll sit around it and conspire."

Mom said, "What shall we do about this, honey
We can't do much since we have no money."
"How did brother get so sick?" I asked my mom
She looked at me blankly and said, "Just be calm."
For the rest of the day I did my chores
Sweeping the floor and dusting the drawers
When it was time for lunch, I said
"I'll skip lunch and read a book instead"

I read until dinner mom called me to eat
So I sat down and took my seat
We looked at each other
While mom talked about brother
She said to us "I don't think he'll make it."
As she told us about it bit-by-bit
After that we ate in silence
I felt so bad that nothing made sense

I went to my brother who was in his bed
I busted out crying, "I think he's dead!"
And to this day, I will remember
What we went through that December
And from now on, I won't forget
He's in God's care now looking at Heaven's sunset

Rebekah McGee copyright 2004