When I arrived home, the house felt so empty. It was craving Gran and mum. I decided that it was no use trying to sleep, and that may be a run would do the trick. I put on my favorite running shoes that smelled to high heaven but got the job. I put on my headphones and chose my favorite jams on my phone and started. My phone was on my hip with a clip. I almost looked like I was wearing a walkman.

As I headed down the driveway, I had a sinking feeling like something was ending, and something else was just beginning. I had gone for a run from this very house a million times but never with this kind of weight weighing on me. I wondered to myself if this is what it meant to be an adult. Learning to live with an invisible ton in your stomach and acting like it was not there.

I got about a half a mile from mum's house when I saw a possum. I always got a kick out of how awkward possum are. This one was walking across the street, and she was fat. I laughed out loud. The possum looked straight at me with a hiss and seemed to say that you too might waddle if you were as pregnant as I. Once she was out of view, I continued my run until I passed by my old grade school. I stopped and sat on a swing. I must have sat there twenty minutes before I started home. I got back and found the door open. I cautiously walked in with my finger on the 911 speed dial. I saw my mum. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Well, I live here," she said and then disappeared. I sat down hard on the floor. What had just happened? Was mum here? What did I just see? It was more than I cared to deal with at this moment. I took a shower and went to bed as if nothing strange had happened.

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The next morning I got myself together very quickly and headed toward the door when I heard a knock. I opened the door, and there was Annie. She smiled and raised a cup of coffee at me. "Care to have a cup of coffee with me before you head over?" she said. I looked at her like she was an alien. Manners trumping nerves, I invited her in. Annie gracefully sat down at the kitchen table and looked at me expectantly. I sat down and looked at her with curiosity. "So, Annie, what brings you to my home?" I asked with a note of both interest and worry. Annie smiled said that she was friends with Gran and that she had often helped her out over the last few years when she needed someone to watch over the house. She said she was familiar with the plants and had offered to Mum to come to water them. I asked why Mum had not just asked me to do that. Annie looked at me softly, kindly, and said that these plants were unique to Gran, and it was essential not to overwater them. She said it would just take a minute and that then we could talk awhile about Gran's status before I headed over to the hospital.