Hidden Burdens (working title)

A New But Familiar Burden

Kimmy headed upstairs when they got back to the house. On the way to hers, she stopped at Miguel's room where the door was left open. Kimmy peeked in and peered around the room now that everything was cleared out.

The mattress was stripped bare. The bulletin board that once held Miguel's photos and coloring pictures, including the drawing she had made for him, was gone. The closet was cleaned out. The drawers were left part-way open. All that was left behind was the dust outlines.

Kimmy scanned more of the room. It was so strange not seeing Miguel there, playing with his toys or watching one of his cartoons. It's as if he disappeared off the face of the earth or something.

Nothing was left.

Except for one toy.

Kimmy checked behind her before cautiously stepping inside the bedroom. She went over and retrieved a toy figurine underneath the dresser and looked the toy over. It was one of those Bluey characters Miguel had gotten for his birthday. Kimmy thought about taking the toy downstairs to give to Ben or Kayla. But what if they thought she stole it? What if they said to toss it in with the toys in the loft?

She heard Kayla say they would stay in touch, maybe Kimmy could hold onto the toy until the next time they saw each other.

So, Kimmy went to her room and opened the second drawer of her dresser, hiding the toy underneath her shorts.

Things were surely going to be different around here. That's for sure.

Kimmy dropped on her bed where she had left her tablet to watch something. Claudia wanted to take Samson for a walk by herself so Kimmy had the room to herself. At least for a while.

That song playing on the radio stuck out in her mind with curiosity. The radio DJ mentioned her name was Wynonna Judd and sounded it out to spell the name in the search bar. Fortunately, it was enough for YouTube to recognize the name and give her videos for the singer, including the singer's YouTube channel.

Kimmy scanned the list of videos before choosing a random music video. The singer reminded Kimmy of her mom. If Stella had red hair, that is. Both women had similar body shapes, though, and long hair.

Stella always did try more than her best to look and act young. Aging wasn't doing her any favors, but she certainly could act the part if Stella was angry enough.

Kimmy scrolled through the videos and played the songs that piqued her interest. It seemed like Wynonna Judd had been singing for a long time, so she had quite a few songs to get through.

Besides her video game music, Kimmy had never been interested in other kinds of music. She grew up with Stella listening to classic rock from the seventies and eighties. So Kimmy wasn't a stranger to music with lyrics. It was more comforting to listen without, especially while she slept. Something about listening to the words Wynonna sang drew her in.

One of the songs Kimmy came across she recognized as one sung by a band Stella listened to.

As she listened to Wynonna Judd sing the words to I Want to Know What Love Is, Kimmy could feel that lump in her throat again, and her eyes glaze over with a fresh film of tears. She quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand just before Claudia returned.

She walked across the room towards her bed. When Claudia heard the words to the song, she noted she knew the song, herself, also familiar with the original singer. "Singers seem to do that a lot. Sing each other's songs." She explained the concept of a cover song as if Kimmy had never heard music with lyrics before.