I awaken with a scream as two wide blue eyes bore a hole directly through my soul. A tiny monster clad in pajamas stares up at me, some need I can’t yet identify written across her impish face. She does affect my heart, just not always in the way I thought she would.
“Breakfast?” the tone is somehow both a question and a demand. A dictator assured of her unlimited power.
She follows me as I go about my morning routine, clinging to my energy and slowly draining it like a vampire.
Pancakes cooked and syrup poured; she is satisfied for now. I sneak upstairs for a basket of laundry and remember a time when the only sneaking I had to do was for something fun.
Overburdened as always, I miss a step and tumble down the stairs, a sickening crack resounding through my skull as what little life remaining in me leaks out entirely.
Moments later, she returns to my side, her hard little glare accusing me of lying down on the job. “Snack?”
“The audacity!” I think as I drag my dead body from the floor to the pantry. I know I should make something healthy, but in my current state, I settle for organic fruit snacks. It’s a sin I am sure I will be judged for later.
For now, I remember her smile when she says “I love you”, and fix my hair over the gaping hole in my head. A mother’s work is never done.