The sudden jerk woke me up from sleep as I rammed into the dashboard. There was a ringing noise in my ears from the bump. I rubbed my head as mom laughed at the sight of my red face. “You did that on purpose,” I said half laughingly. We were going back home but made a stop before leaving town. Mr. Morris’s house looked a bit brighter than most days. “I won’t take long.” I said but my mom stopped me. I thought she would tell me to be careful but she didn’t. “You wait here, I want to talk to him too.” she said and got out of the car. Mr. Morris came to the door and I could tell even he was astonished to see my mom. I desperately wished to know what they were talking about. It looked like a pleasant conversation. Mr. Morris was smiling and so was my mom. I hadn’t seen that laugh in so many years it almost felt too good to be true. If it was a dream, I didn’t want to be woken up. She came back to the car rather quickly. “What were you guys talking about?” I asked. “Oh, nothing he just said that you are a good kid.” she replied. I knew there was more to it than that but I let it go. It was my turn to go meet him.

“Good morning Mr. Morris.” I said. “Call me Tom,” he said, “So, she isn’t selling the house, congratulations.” He looked genuinely happy for the two of us. “Is that what you guys talked about?’ I asked. “She thanked me for, well, everything. But I can’t take all the credit.” he said. “I wanted to thank you as well, Tom.” It was very weird calling him Tom and not Mr. Morris. “I probably wouldn’t have ever seen my mother like this if not for you. You gave me the courage to stand up to her and I am grateful for that. We are leaving for now but I will visit you the next time we come here. There was something that I had been meaning to say. May I?’ I asked. He nodded slightly. “I know you think that if you change anything you would lose the connection with your family. But that isn’t true. They will always be with you in your heart like Dylan lives in mine. It’s about time you move on with your life. It won’t be easy but it’s the right thing to do. Your family wouldn’t want you living like this. Live the rest of your life without the guilt that has been weighing on you, for those whom we love never truly die.” He was awfully quiet. I felt like talking to a rock. If I could I would have stayed there a while but mom honked asking me to come back. I walked away slowly hoping to get at least a reaction but he wouldn’t even look at me. He just kept staring at the ground. I got in the car with a disappointed scowl and we left for our home. Something in my heart didn’t feel right. How could he not say anything? The knot in my stomach grew as I dug into my nails. But I stopped myself and looked back for an instant.

There was a deep smile across his face. I wasn’t sure if what I said got through to him but deep down I knew that it had. I looked at my mom as she drove through the town with a bittersweet expression on her face. As for me, I looked ahead to a new adventure with the fond memories of this little town.

The End