He Asked Me to Stop Talking About My Cancer

Worn thin at the fold.

Doris kept her eyes on the box while she spoke.

“I talked to Marcus.”

I waited.

“He said you were punishing him.”

That almost made me smile.

“And what did you say?” I asked.

She finally looked up.

“I said if silence feels like punishment to him, he ought to think about what it felt like to you.”

From upstairs came the sound of something continue reading …