KNIVES, TEARS, AND TUNA-FISH SANDWICHES

"Please stop, Mom.

You're acting like a nut!"

Yell two young boys.

Dismissing their pleas,

The mother raises a knife to her neck.

As she is about to cut,

The boys muster up enough strength,

To yell even louder,

“Why Mom?

Why are you doing this?”

Suddenly, she pauses,

And sits there motionless,

Holding the knife ever so steady.

Beginning to cry,

She looks at her two sons and says,

"I hurt so bad.

I just want it all to end already!"

Feeling their mother's distress,

The boys frantically begin apologizing,

For anything they may have done,

To cause her to want to cut her own skin.

Amidst the chaos, she reaches out,

To one of her sons and asks,

"But don't you hate me?"

Then, reaching out to her other son, she asks,

"Don't you both hate me?"

"No Mom! We don't hate you!

We love you, Mom!"

Yell the boys, desperately trying to save her.

Continuing to plead with her, they say,

"We hate him, mom.

We hate that monster!

We hate it when he hurts you!

We hate it when he hurts us!

We need you, Mom!"

Becoming unafraid of the knife in her hands,

The boys embrace their mother so hard,

And begin to cry with her.

“When we grow big and strong,

We’ll put a beating on him, Mom,”

Promises one of the boys,

As the three continue to cry together.

After a few minutes,

All the crying stops,

And the three of them,

Release their embrace from each other.

A moment of silence engulfs the room,

As the mother looks down at the knife in her hand.

As she begins to walk away from the boys, she asks,

"Would you guys like some tuna fish sandwiches?"