DEARLY BELOVED
by Ron Breznay
1.
“Pop’s alive! Pop’s alive!” Mikey shouted as he sprang up in bed. His nightshirt stuck to his skin, soaked with sweat, even though it was so cold in the room that the windows were thick with frost.
As he tried to calm down from his nightmare—one that he kept having—he heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall. Oh no, he had awakened his mother. Now he was in for it.
“Mikey? What is it this time?” his mother asked as she came into the room and switched on the light. She didn’t look happy. But then, she seldom seemed happy with him lately. She probably blamed him for Pop’s death.
“Sorry, Mom. It was that dream again.” Mikey shrank in on himself, expecting a cuff on the head.
He glanced at the other beds in the room. His big brothers were tossing and t
