We Are Not Forgotten

chapter one.

The water was cool and still around my naked body and this was probably due to the fact that I wasn’t moving. I was lost in a sea of intricate thoughts that made me wonder how I had ever managed to reach this point in my life. The numbness that I felt around me was not only physical but emotional and I had no idea what to do in order to stop from feeling this way, because everything I knew was slowly slipping away from me. I had always prided myself in being strong willed and able to carry on without any hesitation. But right now, I didn’t know if I could and as I laid in my luke-warm, dirty bath water I couldn’t help but feel a sense of hopelessness.

I blinked a few times, desperate to hold back the tears that had already fallen down my face several times that day.

“Mummy?” I heard a familiar, sweet and timid voice sound from outside the bathroom door. I was instantly dragged from my thoughts and sat up in the bath tub quickly. My daughter was calling for me, despite me putting her to bed only a mere fifteen minutes earlier.

“Gabi, what are you doing up?” I asked, suppressing a groan. I had wanted to have a peaceful bath to relieve myself from the hurtful events that had occurred and even though I loved my daughter immensely, I couldn’t help but feel slightly annoyed.

“I’m hungry…” She whined. I could hear her jumping up and down on the landing in a frustrated manner, which I knew meant she was going to start having a temper tantrum. But what could you expect from a five year old? I debated whether or not to leave my bath immediately and go and tend to her needs however I wanted to be a little bit selfish and stay in there a few moments longer.

“You’re supposed to be bed kiddo, just go back to bed…” I called, my voice echoing off the walls of the small bathroom. However soon after I had said this, there was a deafening silence before I heard her start to whimper and cry; it was then that I knew my time in what would have been a relaxing bath was over.

With a heavy sigh, I grabbed my towel that was crumpled on the floor next to the bath and began to dry myself off. Sometimes I wished that I just had some time to myself, but now being a single mother to a five year old meant that was practically impossible.

“Hold on, I’ll be out in a minute” I reassured her, listening to her tiny whimpers on the other side of the door. I pulled my wet hair up into a messy bun as I did not have the time to dry it and carelessly wrapped the towel around my petite body.

All of a sudden, Gabi’s cries stopped abruptly. My heart skipped a beat at the prospects of what could have happened to her on the other side of the door. We didn’t live in a particularly safe neighbourhood and despite me locking the front door religiously every night, there was always a way someone could have broken in.

I unlocked the bathroom door and swung it open instantly, ready to attack any intruders that were there. But to my utter relief, I was met with the image of Oliver, my best friend, cradling Gabi in his arms while slumped in the nearest armchair.

“You really shouldn’t leave her alone, you know?” He said in a confused voice, gently rocking my daughter in his muscular arms. My whole body relaxed and I let out a huge sigh of relief at the fact that it was Oliver who was in my flat and not a deranged stranger. He had been my best friend ever since we left school and I honestly couldn’t imagine what my life would be without him.

I remembered that I had given him a spare key to my flat so that he was able to get in easily because he visited so often. Sometimes I regretted this though as he always seem to give me an awful fright.