Frankie's Candle (beginning of short story)

Frank was called Frankie at the time, and he was told to make a candle to give to his mother for Mother’s Day, 1982. He put together a collection from his precious box of flotsam and jetsam, as his dad called it, to decorate the candle. He spent days choosing very carefully from his collection until he found the things most suited to his mother’s memory. He started with a piece of string that was very special to him, from a bird he found in the playground. When Frankie went up to get the bird, it opened its mouth and gave Frankie the string. The kids in the playground yelled, “Bird flu! Bird flu Frankie!”, and it became their song for a week. Frankie wanted his mom to know how much he was cared for.