Futile
Charles Martinuzzi, 2026
The house is cold, and dark, and quiet when Brody wakes up. He is hungry and still sleepy, rubbing his eyes and wincing at the cold of the floor on the soles of his feet when he gets out of bed. Mommy said she would be home when he woke up but she’s not in her room. He calls for her and his voice sounds scary loud in the silent house. She’s not downstairs, either.
Popop is laying on the floor in the kitchen. He’s laying on his back and that seems like a strange place to have a sleep. He doesn’t answer when Brody calls him. He doesn’t move when Brody shakes him. He’s heavy and cold. Brody doesn’t know what to do. Mommy has her phone with her. Brody doesn’t know how to use Popop’s phone. It doesn’t have pictures, but buttons and it makes a buzzing sound when he picks it up. Maybe Mommy will be home soon.
Sometimes, when Mommy watches her shows on TV and she thinks Brody is not watching, someone would be lying like Popop and someone else would try to help him by pushing on his chest. Brody tries that, but Popop doesn’t respond. It is hard to push on Popop’s chest and Brody gets tired. This isn’t going to work.
Brody remembers that when Bear stops moving, Mommy changes the batteries. Brody had watched her do it. She opens Bear’s back, gets batteries from the drawer and puts them in Bear’s back. Brody can’t reach the drawer, but he can drag a chair over. That is hard because the chair is heavy and it makes a loud noise on the floor, but Popop doesn’t get up and tell Brody to stop so he grunts and pulls and gets the chair close to the drawer. Inside the drawer there is a lot of stuff. Brody find the batteries under some papers. There are the small ones that Mommy puts in Bear, and a big square one. Popop is a lot bigger than Bear. Brody picks up the square one and then climbs carefully off the chair. He puts the battery in Popop’s pocket. Popop doesn’t move. Sometimes Mommy puts the batteries in wrong, so Brody takes the battery out and turns it over, then puts it back in Popop’s pocket. Maybe a different pocket. Popop doesn’t move and he is very cold. Maybe the battery had to go in Popop’s back, like the batteries in Bear’s back, but Popop is too heavy. Brody can’t roll him over. This isn’t going to work, either. Maybe he should just wait for Mommy to get home. Brody goes to the couch and brings a blanket over for Popop because Popop is cold. Then he gets a blanket for himself and he lays down beside Popop to keep him company. He thinks Popop would feel better if he heard a story, so Brody tells him one he can remember. After a while, Brody goes to sleep.