This really packs a punch, @bex-dk. And it demonstrates what I love so much about good micro-fiction. As I read this, the whole story bloomed in my mind. I came to understand how Miriam continually bit the hand that fed her. And her son John, fed up with a lifetime of abuse, has abandoned her completely. The reader can put all that together from a few well-crafted sentences and one line of dialog. Well done.