"The announcement is there on the coffee table,"
She said, pointing at the opened envelope.

"We should leave no later than two,"
She strongly advised.

"I'll read that in the morning,"
He huffed, reclined on the living room sofa.

He wanted to keep his mind focused
On getting to sleep, not preoccupied with
Anticipation....

She was on her way to bed, so it would be
Too much to ask for a glass of water,
Knowing all too well the response
He would get.

His mother's (and father's) self-reliance parenting
Method was an eternal 24/7/365, do it yourself,
Autodidactic inevitability.

However, before turning in,
She brought to him a pillow, sheet and blanket--
And told him to sleep downstairs on the
Foldout bed in the family room.

He was busy opening the refrigerator door.
"Leave the stuff over there. I'm getting something to drink."

He noticed some bacon defrosting on a plate in
The fridge, enough for him (and her);
The implicit directive was to cook,
Not eat, all six strips for breakfast.

There were plenty of eggs.
Raisin bread was on the kitchen table on top of a dessert box.
His chosen plan was to heat up a slice of the leftover,
Store-bought apple pie.

He brought from home his coffee despite his
Mother's permission to use a drip coffee filter pack
From the unopened container, passed expiration.

The glass of water was refreshing, enough so
To remind him to brush his teeth and floss the
Popcorn hull stuck behind his lower right molar.

His left index finger could only point out
The irritating matter, which he could not see, but his
Mind deduced empirically the futility in trying
To pry the hull with his tongue after forcing
The kernel splinter further between his tooth and gum.

The on-demand movie that he watched while eating
Popcorn was not lodged in his memory though;
The name of the movie was not even on the tip of his tongue;
The event tomorrow wedged his present thoughts.

After brushing and flossing his teeth,
He went downstairs to the family room,
Opened the sliding glass door to the backyard,
Glided close the screen, and turned the dimmer until
The lights ceased to glow.

He flopped onto the folded sofa bed,
The cushions breaking his fall.

He listened to the crickets, and in
The dark, he stared at the ceiling--
Dismissively into the darkness.