Excerpt

 Main Characters
Buddy: Age 10. Mother died of cancer year prior.
Harper:

Age 7. Sister to Buddy.
Dad: Father and widower
Mimi: Grandmother from the mother's side

       This type of talk would occur between these two every time they would get anywhere near each other, and each time Harper would laugh uncontrollably. Cindy knew exactly how to make Harper laugh no matter what the situation was. Unfortunately, she knew what made her cry. You see, after my mom died, Cindy became very helpful to my dad. She would help with the shopping and sometimes make dinner. She also was the only person that could get Harper to sleep at night. Sometimes she would read a story to her, or sometimes would make up a silly one off the top of her head. But most times, she would just sit on the bed with her and talk about whatever was on Harper's mind at that particular moment. I think Harper was used to mom, a woman playing this role, and Dad just couldn't fill that empty space Harper was experiencing no matter how hard he tried. Though Mimi tried to comfort her, we all knew that Mimi was also mom's mom, and she was feeling just as sad as the rest of us. Dad and Mimi usually comforted each other. They were both grown-ups, and had to deal with grown-up problems on top of it. Though when Harper was ready to go to sleep, she would ask Cindy to call Dad and Mimi in. They would usually come in to kiss her, tuck her in before she went off and closed her eyes. Mr. Pickles, her stuffed pickle, would always be under her arm when she slept. To me he looked like a "deformed cactus with zits", but what did I know. As for me, I didn't need as much comforting as the others. Sure, I felt the same pain they did, I just wasn't one to express my feelings in front of anyone I guess, and I think Dad was a little worried about this. But I would encourage him now and again that I was O.K. and that if I needed to talk to someone, he would be the first to hear about it. Maybe that was the problem, I never liked to talk to anyone when I felt sad. I would normally just go upstairs to my bedroom, lie on my bed with my face to the pillow, and "bawl my eyes out".