Chapter Five; Goodbye Glen
"Well this is it Dad, I'm all packed and ready to go." Glen said the next morning as he looked over at his parents. "Where's Mary at? I'd like to say goodbye to her as well." He said. "She's still upstairs getting dressed." Chucky answered. "Oh I see, have you told her yet?" Glen asked. "No. We decided that it would be best if her mother ends up telling her." Chucky said when suddenly Mary skipped down the stairs. "Tell me what?" she questioned as Chucky and Tiffany exchanged nervous glances. After a moment of silence Tiffany simply just nodded at Chucky who heaved a heavy sigh.
"Sit down kid. We need to talk." He told her. "Chucky?" she questioned. "What's going on?" she asked him worriedly. "Well the truth is, your mother is very sick. I guess she's known about for quite some time, but we ran into her when she was at the doctor's and well, I'm afraid she has cancer." He told her reluctantly. "But she's going to get better right." Mary said as Chucky heaved another sigh. "Mary listen," he began as she slowly started to back away. "No." she said sadly as a tear rolled down her cheek. "No!" she cried before she burst into tears and ran out through the front door.
"Mary!" Chucky cried anxiously as the door slammed behind her. "Are you going to talk to her?" Tiffany asked him. "No, I think I should probably just give her some time." He answered. "If you don't mind, I think that I would rather talk to her." Glen said. "Alright go ahead if you think you can handle it." Chucky said. "Remember Glen, she's a very hurt little girl right now." Tiffany told him. "I know Mother, trust me, I can do it." He said as he bent down and hugged both of his parents. "Good luck kid." Chucky said as he watched his son gather his things and walk out the front door.
He walked around the house and found Mary sitting down on a bench inside the garden. "Do you mind if I sit down?" he asked her as she just simply nodded and gave a sniff. Glen sat down just as Pumpkin walked around the corner slurping up the last of a mouse (its' tail) into his mouth and gave a small belch before looking up at him. Glen patted his lap and the cat jumped inside of it as he started to scratch him behind the ears. "You know, I was thinking about it and I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor." Glen said as he started tickling Pumpkin under the chin while he closed his eyes and started to purr.
"What's that?" she asked him. "Well, since I'm going away to college I was wondering if you could look after my parents. With me gone, they're going to be just as lonely as you will." He said. "Yeah but at least they'll have each other and Pumpkin and Stanley." She said with another sniff as she wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "But I'm not going to have anyone." She said sadly. "Yes you will, you'll have them and James to keep you company." Glen said as Pumpkin stood up and walked over onto Mary's lap and looked up at her while he continued to purr before lying back down.
"See? Pumpkin doesn't want you to be sad either." Glen said while Mary gathered him up inside her arms and kissed him on the top of his head. "You are such a sweet cat, I don't know why Chucky doesn't like you." She told him. "I think he really does deep down, but he's too tough to admit it." Glen said with a grin. "Anyway Mary, I have to get going. I have to catch my bus." He explained. "I still don't understand why you're going to school in the summer." She said. "That's because I'm going to a year round school. I figure I have to study pretty hard if I want to become a dentist." He told her.
"Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?" he asked her. "I'm not sure yet." She began. "I mean I definitely want to be a singer, but I love animals and little kids so I might want to be a veterinarian or a music teacher or something." She said. "Well don't worry you still have a long time to figure it out. For right now you can just enjoy being a kid and having fun." He told her. "Yeah some fun, my mother is dying and I won't have anywhere to go." She said. "Don't worry we'll always be friends and my parents will look after you." He said.
"Well, I guess we should say goodbye then." She said as she leaned over and threw her arms around him tightly. "Goodbye Glen, I'll miss you." She told him. "Goodbye Mary," he said as he smiled down at her warmly and hugged her back. "Take good care of my mum and dad." He said. "I will. I promise." She assured him with another sniff before they broke the embrace. Mary watched him and waved sadly as he walked away.
….
Glen waited down at the curb for the bus to show up. When it finally did, he climbed onto it and took a seat next to the window. The bus driver slowly shut the door and started to drive away. Glen gave a sad sigh as he watched his home disappear into the distance. He knew that he would miss his family very much, but he couldn't wait to get to school and get started on following his dream.