Ali: This is based on a true story in my family. I own only the plot, nothing else.
I sat in the house and looked at the withering woman before me. I wasn't as connected to her as the others, but there was still a bond. Her hair was white with age, her wrinkles sagging more than they used to, her dark eyes looking at the ceiling, but not seeing, her mouth opened as she breathed, her breath's shallow. I knew the saying. No one dies until they've seen everyone they loved, till everyone's said their goodbyes. I knew I was the one she was waiting for, but I wasn't ready. I looked back at the TV, glancing at her every now and then to check and see if the was still breathing. She'd been in that hospital bed for weeks in her own home. Three other deaths in that home, and soon there would be a fourth. It was just past Christmas, not yet the New Year, but creeping there. I felt uncomfortable. I always felt that way in the house, but this was a different type. The one when you're stuck watching a family member die. Soon it was time to go and I watched my mother give her a kiss awkwardly and turned to the door, not yet ready. But I knew I was the one she was waiting for.
I sat there, watching TV once more, glancing at the woman and checking on her breathing. I was wondering maybe I should, maybe I shouldn't. I was contemplating this the entire time I was there. She was waiting on me. Not her son, who was my grandfather, not my mother, who was her grandchild, not my father who she looked at with fondness, but me, her great-grandchild. She was waiting on me to release her, and I knew it. I was the one that would release her from her pain, yet I couldn't in the past. I kept thinking. She was in pain. She was still in pain because of me. I had to let her go, had to make her waiting end. She was still in pain because she was waiting on me. Soon once again it was time to go I decided it was time for her waiting to end. I went over to her and kissed her cheek, whispering my goodbye. I turned and left.
A few days later she was gone. She had been waiting on me and now her waiting was over. All it took was just one kiss.
Ali: I hope that you enjoyed.