The War Within

Summary

Three years after breaking up with my childhood sweetheart, my mother cooked his favorite meal: hairy crab.

"Lily is coming over today. Don't cause a scene with her."

Lily was the poor student my mother adored. Caleb was the boy I had loved for ten years.

Seeing me sit silently in my wheelchair, my mother raised her voice, trying to mask her guilt:

"Lily changed your college application back then for your own good. But becoming a war correspondent was your own choice. You can't blame others."

I just smiled and said calmly:

"Mm."