Tracy Hetzel

2nd Runner-up

"Morning Skulk"
Watercolor
14.25” x 20”

My morning coffee. I’m up before the sunrise, groggy-eyed I wake the kids, skulk into the kitchen and start the coffee. My first cup is downed in a frenzy. Make breakfast, nudge my husband and wake my daughter a second time. Dutiful son already in the shower. Locate and iron school clothes, make lunches. Wake my daughter a third time. Bark orders: Eat your fruit; Don’t forget your homework; Stop arguing; Hockey today. Fill my husbands go cup, kiss them, rush them out the door. My coffee cup is empty. I don’t remember drinking it. In the now peaceful house I pour my second cup. This one I savor. A minute to myself before I start my day.