Nothing Left

"Wheres the pudding?" Gator, my little brother, asked. "And the mashed potatoes? What about the berries, pie, and stuffing?"

I sigh, glaring at my brother.

He meets my gaze with angry green eyes. I wince, they look just like our fathers.

Gator pushes his light brown hair out of his eyes and pushes his plate away.

"You know that without dad it's hard to afford stuff," I try to sound superior, but the words come out more sad.

Our father had died at the begining of November, making this our first holiday without him.

I glance at my plate, knowing why my brother was disapionted. Instead of a quarter turkey, we had turkey sandwitches. Instead of my father's buttered corn, we had canned corn. Instead of stuffng we had small salads, and instead of our normal bowls of different kinds of berries, we had canned pears. The normal desert of pie and icecream was only icecream.

"Stop complaining, Gator," my mother scolded angrily. "Thanksgiving is about being thankful, remember?"

I nod my head in agreemet, using my fork to lift some canned pears to my mouth.

After chewing a bite, I say, "These pears are really good... I'm thankful that we have these."

My mom nods aprovingly. "How about we go around the table and say what we are thankful for," she decided. She smiled, running her hand through her blonde hair. I noticed her smile didn't reach her eyes, leaving them the same dull-blue they had been since my father's death.

I wince at the memory, and one of the tears I had been holding back all night escaped down my cheek. I ignored it, and tried to smile, knowing my blue eyes would be just as dull as my mom's.

"But," Gator muttered, staring down at his lap. "But I'm not thankful for anything."

The saddness inside of me gives my voice anger.

"Can't you be thankful for what you still have?" I ask, two more tears spilling down my cheeks.

"I have nothing!" Gator shreiked. "Dads dead, you and mom are trapped in your own minds, we live in this tiny apartment instead of our house, and we gave up over half our things!"

I say nothing, knowing I can't say anything positive without lying.

Then my brother ran over to the window, and pushed it open, revealing that it started pouring.

He jumped outside, knowing our appartment was on ground level.

I ran towards the window, and my mother came, too.

I stuck my head out the window, and yelled, with my voice full of the anguish that was now my life.

"GATOR!" I screamed, somehow knowing that I would never see him alive again.