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Janice Doppler

Child Support

Momma scans the mail the moment she gets home from work, desperate for the check that is nearly a month overdue. She mumbles and shakes her head no, removes her coat, goes upstairs. 

When she returns her eyes are red, yet my siblings and I are excited when she announces a special dinner—corn fritters. It turns out to be canned corn mixed into pancakes. Only pancakes. She asks about our days at school. She smiles as I report progress with my fetal pig dissection, furrows her brow as my youngest brother defends his role in another playground fight. Her eyes glisten as my other brother describes his school lunch—baked chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, peas, salad, milk and chocolate pudding. Our little sister, too young for school, just listens.

Before Momma heads for her night job, she promises to tuck us in when she gets home.  We nod and grin even though we all know we’ll be asleep by then.

bedtime fairy tale
the girl adds
another wish

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About the Author

Janice Doppler lives at the edge of a forest in Massachusetts in the USA. Her haiku and haibun have been published in frogpond, bottle rockets, The Haibun Journal, Cattails, and Drifting Sands.  She enjoys tai chi, bird watching, and bird carving. She is a retired school teacher and administrator.