Empty

Dread fills my empty stomach as I think about what comes next. The holidays are always so hard. An ache and a rumble.

I need this.

An ache and a rumble.

No, you don't, she whispers in my ear. Her voice is comforting in all of the wrong ways.

It is just one dinner. With family. I will survive.

And yet, I fill my plate up with nothing but steamed broccoli.