ed in the middle of the night, a loud crash that woke the whole ho

s and tools, had buckled. Everything had come crashing down right on top of the corner wher

piece of metal. "Well, I guess that' s o

le, an almost sorrowful look on his face, but he didn't say anything. The porcelain offering bowl was in pieces. The woo

ater, my un

ran his own construction business. He wasn' t a reckless pe

te on a clear, dry night. His truck went straight off a curve in the road and hit a

ently, as if he was trying to avoid something right in front of him. But the road was empty. The trucker also said that just before the crash, he

as a wreck. He couldn

he kept saying to me, his voice hollow. "He drove

It was a tragedy, a horrible, senseless

ole body. By morning, I was burning up with a fever of 104. Mom gave me medicine, but it didn' t

s talking, but not to them.

thrashing in the sweat-soaked sheets.

nothing. No infection, no virus, nothing physically wrong with me. But the fever wouldn' t break. I was wasting away i

itting by my bed, her face pale with exhaustion and fear. Dad

ring teeth and delirious eyes,

her voice trembling but firm. "The docto

one. "What are yo

aze unwavering. "Someone told me about a woman, out past the

looked from his desperate wife to his dying son. He was a man who believ

, the word a surrende