The Woman in the Letter

PART 26

Natalie

"It's very strange"

Nichole looked at me and waited for me to continue. We were sitting on one of the park benches near the building where we lived. We watched the silent waves of the water in the artificial lake created in the middle of the park. My mother did not come to the park because she did not like the smell of the small zoo near the park. I remember how she created a petition to close the zoo. The zoo needs to be removed here. Animals suffer. They must be released into nature.

There was almost no one in the park except us. It seemed to us that we had nowhere to go.

"Relatives and friends you haven't seen in years behave as if they have been with you for a long time when you lose someone. What is the reason for this?"

"It's just what they think they have to do" Nichole replied.

"What's the point of showing that those I don't want are with me after I lose the person I want the most?" I leaned back in my seat and thought for a moment. Even the care I received from people irritated me. I was looking for a reason to get angry and vomit.

After a medical examination, we buried my mother today. Four hours had passed. I could not enter the house. Nichole didn't want to leave me alone either. She never left me wherever I went, she often picked up the phone and informed Henry about my mood.

"Until a few days ago, we were talking about what to name the child. Everything...Everything was so normal" Nichole said "Then everything changed in a moment"

Suddenly, my mother's last words came to my mind. She seemed thoughtful. For some reason she was worried. sHe didn't share it with me. Maybe she knew Paul wasn't dead. But she didn't tell me so that I wouldn't worry or be afraid. Did he share anything with anyone?

I turned to Nichole "Recently, Didn't you feel anything strange in your mother?"

I was still trying to connect the pieces

Nichole turned all his attention to me. "How weird?"

"Like, was she worried or concerned?"

She thought for a moment. She tilted the corners of his mouth down and shook his head slowly. "I didn't notice anything noticeable."

"When was the last time you talked to her?"

"The day before..." she did not want to tell murder and instead said "Accident"

"How was she?"

Nichole rolled her eyes and turned her head towards the lake. SHe gathered his fragile black hair with his hand and threw it over his shoulders. "I remember speaking very, very short. She talked to me very little. SHe said he would call me later. I was a little sick. I called him before the doctor to advise her" she was involuntarily stroking his growing belly with his left hand. But this care was a touch of more anxiety than smooth. 'I didn't want to take medicine without knowing it would harm the baby. But she listened to my question and after short answers, she hung up. I thought he was frankly nervous. Or I don't know. I may not have called at the right time. There were sudden reactions from the day you left. Therefore, none of us reacted much to her negative actions or responses. For the last time, she suddenly gave up the idea of coming to Prague to see you. Tickets and visas were obtained but she suddenly changed her mind. "

˝What?! I didn't understand. Mom was preparing to come to Prague?"

"Yeah. She told us not to tell you about it. She wanted to surprise you"

"Something happened," I said confidently.

"Like what?"

I did not answer. Because I still didn't know what to say.

"She was not busy or nervous. She knew something. She had seen something. Maybe, She had learned how Paul was alive"

Nichole did not say anything. She kept looking to the lake But I knew. There had to be a way to follow in my mother's footsteps to find out what she knew and why she has been killed.