Humor

The shakers

george RAYMOND37 Comments

For as long as

I can remember my

mother always set

the table with

two sets of identical

salt & pepper shakers.

***

It didn’t make a

difference how

many were eating

or what was being served.

***

The table would

always be set with

two sets of

salt & pepper shakers.

***

I the time 

I stayed home from

school due to

a high fever.

***

My dad rolled in the TV set

so, I could watch cartoons.

***

My sister brought me some comic books

***

And my mom brought

in a tray with a

bowl of Spaghetti’o’s,

a sandwich and two

sets of 

salt & pepper shakers.

***

And though I often

wondered why she did

this.

I never spoke of it

***

Until last week.

When I went to

visit my mother

at the Home for

the Very Age-ed.

***

She and I sat in her

small room and

reminisced about the

old times

***

And then, finally,

after an hour,

I gathered up the nerve

to ask the question

that had nagged me for

these many years.

***

I asked,

“Why did you always set the

table with two sets of

salt & pepper shakers?”

***

My mother

closed her

eyes as if

in deep

contemplation

***

She spoke just

above a whisper.

And I leaned

in close so

as not to

miss a word.

***

Said my mother

“One set, my son … was poison!”

for j.p.

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