The Alternative

I'm scouting bargains at Mann's Mercantile rummage sale one Saturday afternoon. "Nice to see you," says a neighbor face-to-face with me for the first time since my return. "It is nice to be seen," I reply. "We said lots of prayers," she reported. I nodded. "It couldn't have turned out any other way," she reckoned. "A mom with six kids can't just go off and die. What would they have done?" This time they did not have to find out.