'I love you mom,'� six year old Mark said. He gave his mother a big wet kiss on the cheek.
'I love you too Mark,'� Mark's mother, Cecilia, said. She tucked in her only child and then walked to the door.
'Mom?'�
'Yes Chico?'�
'When is Dad coming home?'�
Cecilia looked into Mark's big dark eyes as she tried to figure out what to say to her one and only son. 'I'm not sure Mark. We have to try to be patient. The war is not over yet and he can't leave until it's over.'�
'I miss him a lot mom. I want him to come home soon.'�
'I know Chico, I know, all in good time. Go to sleep now and dream. I love you.'�
Cecilia turned out the lights and shut the bedroom door. She walked into the kitchen, put a kettle of water on the stovetop, and then sat at the table. Her and her husband, Jose, had separated five years ago. After the separation, he moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and joined the Marines. Within short time, he'd been deployed to Iraq and he'd been there for two years.
While her son had been playing at a friend's house during the day, she received a call from the area where he was stationed and was informed that her husband had been killed in a roadside bomb. It was then that her entire life flashed before her. She hadn't moved for hours and when she finally did, she began throwing objects all over the living room. She had broken a majority of her china and ended up throwing a chair through her window, instantly shattering it. When her son walked in, she told him that the dog had rampaged through the house and broken everything. She had no idea what to tell her son and she knew she couldn't hide the truth forever.
The kettle began whistling and Cecilia removed the kettle from the burner. She looked out of her kitchen window at the bright white full moon that lit up the night sky. It bathed the tree covered landscape in pale white. Her homeland country of Cuba was beautiful in some ways, but it wasn't beautiful in others. The country had been in political turmoil for the last several decades. Many of the people in the country were poor and she too would have been poor if it hadn't been for her grandfather's inheritance. Cuba was a dangerous place to live and Cecilia was beginning to think that it might be best if she and her son packed up and left. She had family in the United States. Her mother and father lived in Ft. Myers, Florida and her sister lived in Key West, Florida. Her parents had begged her on many occasions to leave Cuba once and for all and she was thinking that may be the best thing to do. It's what she had to do.
'Eat your breakfast Chico,'� Cecilia said. 'You're going to need energy for the boat ride today. It's going to be rather long.'�
'How long are we going to be at Grandma's and Grandpa's?'� Mark asked.
'I'm not sure, a few weeks maybe. Grandma and Grandpa miss you a lot. They always look forward to seeing you when they can.'�
'Have you heard from dad yet?'�
Cecilia lost her nerve and through a plate on the floor. It shattered into many tiny pieces. 'No Mark, I haven't heard from Dad yet! How many more times are you going to ask me? I don't have all the answers. For all I know he could be'�'� Cecilia stopped before she could finish.
Mark stared at her with his big brown eyes. 'He could be what mom?'�
'Never mind Chico, just finish your food. We have to catch the boat in an hour.'�
Cecilia drove through the streets of Havana on her way to the dock. They would take a boat to Miami and then take a bus from there to her parents' house in Ft. Myers. The boat ride would take about two hours. She had checked the weather forecast for the area and it seemed that everything would go well.
'Tickets please, thank you and watch your step.'�
'Stay close to me Mark; I don't want to lose you.'�
Cecilia and Mark went to the galley on board. 'Would you like something to drink Chico?'�
Mark shook his head no. He didn't want to eat and he didn't want to drink. All he wanted to do was see his dad.
'Mom, can I write dad a letter and then you mail it to him?'�
Cecilia couldn't take it anymore. She had to tell her son the truth. It was eating her up inside. 'Mark, there's something I have to tell you. You know I love you very much and I will always be there for you.'� She paused as she tried to find the best possible way to tell her six year old son that he lost his dad. 'Honey, your father had an accident.'�
Mark looked at his mother with his big dark eyes. 'Is he ok? Is he coming home?'�
Cecilia looked down at the ground. 'No Chico, he's not coming home.'� She didn't know what else to say.
Mark got up from the table. 'I want my dad!'� he screamed as tears exploded from his eyes. Mark jumped up and down in a fit of rage. 'I want my dad now!'�
'Mark, please stop. You're going to hurt yourself!'�
'I don't care! I want my dad! He's coming home, I know it. You're lying!'�
Mark ran out of the galley at breakneck speed. Cecilia ran after him.
'Mark, come back! Please, don't do this!'�
Mark ran towards the railing. When he reached it he stepped onto it.
'Mark, get away from there! You're going to fall in!'�
'Good, I don't want to go to Grandma's and Grandpa's and I don't want to be with you! I hate you!'�
'Mark, please come back here.'� Just then, a large wave jolted the boat causing Mark to lose his balance and fall overboard.
'No, Mark! Someone, help me! My son's in the water!'�
A man a few feet away heard the woman's screams and without thinking he jumped into the water after the little boy. Cecilia looked down at the water. She didn't see anything.
'Please God, please.'�
Just then, her son's little head emerged above the foamy water.
'We need a flotation device,'� the man yelled. Cecilia looked around the deck. She found one not to far away and through it down into the water. The man put it around Mark. He propelled them to the edge of the boat and Cecilia grabbed a hold of her son. She laid him on the wooden deck.
'Oh my God, he's not breathing!'�
'It's ok, I can help.'� The same man who had jumped in after Mark began to perform CPR. He held the little child's nose and blew into his mouth. There was no response. The man did it again. Mark's eyes opened wide and he coughed up water.
'Oh my God, thank you!'� Cecilia said. She was crying hysterically. She grabbed her son and hugged him. 'Mark, I almost lost you! Oh my God, I love you so much.'�
The shivering little boy looked up into his mother's eyes. 'I'm sorry I said I hate you mom.'�
'Shhhh, don't say anything. Just relax.'� Cecilia caressed her son's head. He was all she had. 'I promise we'll get through this. I will never desert you.'�
Cecilia stared up into the heavens. Puffy white clouds cluttered the piercing blue sky. Her and her son had a long road ahead of them and she wasn't sure where they'd end up. Even with all of the uncertainty, one thing was certain and that was that she still had her son and her son still had her.

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