Decisions

A short story.

Bill Holmes
7 min readJan 20, 2024
Photo by kevin turcios on Unsplash

“Do we have anything to eat, Karen?” Nana asked, calling me by my deceased mother’s name. “I’m hungry.”

I placed the EBONY magazine on the coffee table I started perusing while halfheartedly watching an episode of House Hunters. “Sure. What would you like?”

She rubbed her hands and smiled. “I’d love some apples.”

I nodded, rising to my feet. “No problem.”

Nana pointed to the television. “Do you mind if we change the channel?”

I picked up the remote to channel surf. “Anything in particular you want to see.”

“No, not really. Oooh, Star Trek!” Nana exclaimed upon seeing the science fiction series.

I smiled, remembering this was one of her favorite shows. She loved watching it on syndication whenever I visited my grandparents on weekends and after I came to live with them following my parents’ death from a car accident.

“This is the episode where Captain Kirk and the crew are trapped in the alternative universe.”

I nodded. “It is.”

“‘Mirror, Mirror,’” Nana said, pointing her index finger. “That’s the name of this episode.”

“You’re right,” I said, patting her hand.

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Bill Holmes

Writer. Poet. ESSENCE Best Selling Author. Filmmaker. Personal development aficiando who lives and breathes the mantra "I will not be denied!"