#MFM Winner: Amy Francisconi!

Apologies for the late posting, I had some technical difficulties last week in that I did not have a computer and everything was postponed a bit… So with no further delays, here is the winner of the Faces on the Train contest!

Congratulations to Amy Francisconi, winner of last week’s #MicroFictionMonday contest!  Please enjoy her winning entry below!

The Good Son

My brother and I sit back to back on the train. We don’t speak now – we said more than enough back on the platform. Turned heads and invited stares when our voices rose. Now we sway in silence, the good son and the other, on our way to say goodbye to our mother.

I’ll continue to live in the brownstone we grew up in. Phil will fuck off and do his own thing. He’ll visit Ma’s grave a couple times to leave flowers before it becomes too inconvenient to make the trip. It will fall on me to tend hers the way I’ve looked after Pop’s since he passed. And what’s the difference, after all? It’s just as easy to tend two as it is one, side by side as they’ll be.

Phil and I were close, years ago. There was a time when the three years between us were nothing. We played like friends just as often as we fought like brothers. We’d been a team.

Somehow, together, we convinced Pop to let us have a dog. Not a puppy – Pop wanted to give a shelter dog a chance.

Jenny loved us all, but she took a shine to me. She slept between our twin beds, right below mine so I could reach out and stroke her when she whined in her sleep. Phil began to protest when I wanted to bring Jenny along to the park or to play ball. No longer novel, she was inconvenient. He forgot to feed and walk her. And then he made new friends and we grew apart.

“Remember Jenny?” I ask. My throat is tight. For a moment I think he didn’t hear me over the noise of the train. Then he answers.

“Jenny who?”

About the Author:

Amy lives in Delaware with her husband, one elderly, cantankerous cat and two young, enthusiastic pups. Books have always been her favorite form of travel. After a long hiatus from writing, Amy has pulled out her word crafting tools once again. She hopes to create places and construct adventures for others to enjoy and give back to an art form she adores.