An elderly widow, intending to commit suicide, calls in to her neighbour Ron to say goodbye. Over what she believes is her last cup of coffee, he tells her of his successful fight with cancer, and how he decided he couldn’t die because of ‘the kid.’ Based on a true story.

The Kid

I was on my way to the ocean to drown myself when I decided to say goodbye to Ron; he’d been a good neighbour. I didn’t intend to tell him what I had planned.

“Want a cup of coffee?” he asked.

I thought, Wot-the-hell, the ocean will wait.

Ron made the coffee and ripped open a packet of Scotch Fingers. We sat there dunking. Nice, it was, the company. I hadn’t had much company since … well, we won’t go into that.

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