• Panting hard, Jacob sat down on the soft green grass of the public park. He hated this heat, but he had to ignore it. Today was his last day to train for the basketball try-outs that was going to be held tomorrow. He'd been practicing the whole afternoon. Falling back on the grass, he stared up at the setting sky. It was a light pick colour that darkened into a deep purple with hardly a cloud in the clear sky. He was suddenly a little boy again grinning widely with his mother beside him. In the background he could hear the soft clicking of his father's camera as he took pictures of the setting sky. This was his mother's favorite time of the day. Little did he know this would be the last time she saw it like this. On there walk back to the house, a drunk person had hit his parents who had pushed him out of the way to safety. That night at the hospital he was told that his father would survived the incident but they weren't so sure of his mother. Little Jacob was shown to his mother's room. At the sight of her covered in bandages and hooked to all the machined with tubes all over her, Jacob broke out into uncontrollable tears. He cried and cried until he fell asleep. Even then his dreams were full of crying.
    Waking up the next day, he found himself in his bed with his blankets up to his chin. Sitting he happily thought that his parents were all better since he was home. With a smile he ran into the kitchen were he smelled food. He stopped suddenly at the sight of his aunt. She had food on the table but she hadn't touched any of it. Her eyes were red and swollen as if she had been crying all night. She looked up and saw him standing in the doorway and quickly wiped her face. Too late, Jacob had already seen the tears.
    "Where's momma and papa?" he asked quietly. Not wanting to hear the answer he knew he would get. But the question was reflexive. His young aunt just looked at him, and he knew. Tears fell silently down his face. When will they come back?" he asked. He slowly made his way to his aunt and climbed into her lap. "Please don't cry. They're going to be okay, I promise. So please stop crying." he wiped the tears from his face then from his aunt's.

    "Jacob? Jacob? What's wrong Jacob?" A voice filled with concern asked. Jacob blinked and found himself starring into the face of the ever beatiful Mary Williams. Her bright brown eyes were wide with concern. Her face was framed by aubren hair that fell down around his face. Sitting back, she helped Jacob to sit up. "What's wrong?" she asked again.
    "Nothing. I was just thinking about that day." Jacob sighed.
    "Why? Please don't. That's the past. Just be happy they're both still alive." She replied soothingly. She ran her fingers through his hair to wipe of the pine needles that clung to him. Patting off his back, she sat back pleased with temporary cleaning. "Shouldn't you be on your way to the hospital? Your mother is going to be wondering why you arn't there." Mary announced.
    "I don't think she'll notice. She's been a coma for so long that I don't think she'll ever wake out of it."
    "Way to be optimistic" Mary answered sourly.
    "Which is why you need to go see her." She continued.
    "Alright. I was planning to go anyway. Do you want to come? I'm sure she misses you too." Mary nodded. "Alright. Um. Can you help me up. My legs feel like jelly." Jacob said as he held out his hand. Mary nodded again and struggled to pull him up onto his feet. Though it was a task, Jacob did most of the work himself.
    At the hospital, they signed in and made their way to his mother's room. Just the sight of her was enough to bring tears to his eyes. It wasn't the way she looked exactly, the gause and bandages weren't there anymore. Just seeing lay there looking so peaceful and serene was what brought the tears to his eyes. How could she look so peacefull if she could die any moment? He just couldn't take it, not knowing when they were going to call and tell him the horrible news of his mother's death. Ever Since his dad recovered, though he was left paralyzed, he was more reserved and kept to himself more often than not. And the agony of waiting for news of his wife wasn't helping him much either.
    "Hey mom. It's me, Jacob, I brought Mary with me today. Well tomorrow's the try-outs so cross your finger." Jacob gave a weak chuckle. Inhaling deeply, he slowly let out his breath. He blinked in surprise when Mary grabbed his hand and smiled up at him.
    "Hey Mrs. Johnson, you don't need to worry. I know your son will make the team. He's been practicing ever since he wanted to play. He's really good. You just need to pray that he can get over his fear of playing in front of people." Mary put in cheerfully, though her eyes held saddness in them as she watched his mother's motionless body. Jacob could barely see the movements that showed that she was even breathing.