A Mother's Embrace

CHAPTER 10

That night's sleep was not better than any other night. I was restless throughout my sleep and woke up in intervals. At last when I was too tired, I forced my eyes shut and put myself to sleep. The weekend had passed pretty much very eventfully and I couldn't brush off all that happened. The figure on my balcony, the lake and my nightmare. I couldn't quite believe that it was just a mere coincidence that all these happened. I decided that I will question David discreetly during today's lesson. If I persuade him enough, I might get some answers from him.

David greeted me with his bright smile as I walked in the class. He had already opened his books and was reading through them.

"Hey, David! Good morning."

"Good morning Ms. Olivia. What are we learning today?"

"We shall read some really cool stories today. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes! I love stories!"

"Great! Now, take your book of short stories and open to the second story. I will read the story out loud once and if you have any doubts, stop me in between and ask okay?"

"Yes."

We proceeded to recite the story and David listened intently throughout it. He asked questions in between and was pretty cheerful throughout the lesson.

"Okay, that's it for today. Why don't you try answering those questions at the back of the lesson and get back to me during our next class. Will you be able to do it?"

"Yes Ms. Olivia! Since I am smart, I will be able to do this very easily!"

"That's my boy!"

"Can I go out and play now?"

"Sure, but I need to ask you a question and if you answer honestly, you can go and play quickly."

"Yes Ms. Olivia!"

"What do you call Amanda?"

"Mama. You didn't know that until now?" he asked, teasing me.

"Yes, I knew," I said with a laugh. "So, who is mother?"

Suddenly, David's bright smiling face turned pale white. He looked down at his feet and curled his fingers together. It was very evident that he was getting nervous.

"David? Who is your mother?"

"I can't tell," he said looking down.

"Look here David, I am having trouble with a lot of things the last few days. And to find solutions for these problems, I have to know some secrets. So, David, if you don't help me, I will be scared and confused. Do you want that?"

"No"

"Then please help me David."

"I can't," and he ran out of the classroom.

I realized that whatever I thought the problem was, the reality is much more complicated. I felt like I saw only the tip of an iceberg and there was still a lot to be uncovered yet. If David doesn't help me, I will be in the dark again and that is not good.

I couldn't find David the rest of the day. Even during lunch and tea he was not present. When I asked Amanda, she said that he is just in one of his moods and he will be alright soon. Seeing how friendly Amanda was, I was sure David didn't say anything to anyone. As I got ready for bed at night, my heart was heavy and uneasy. I was worried that I pushed David too hard.

I changed into my night clothes and went out onto the balcony for some fresh air. The lake lay still afar with an air of secrecy. I couldn't bring myself to stare at it for too long and went inside after locking the door. The book I brought back from the lake lay on my table. I picked it up and the cover was still wet. It felt like someone put it in the lake again and kept it back here.

"Why isn't this drying?"

I left it back on the table and went to comb my hair. As I was combing my hair facing the mirror, the curtain behind me fluttered.

"Did I forget to close the window?" I said and walked to the window to latch it back. But surprisingly, the window was closed, and the fan was not on.

"How did the curtains move then?" I pulled and lifted the curtain to see if any insects or rodents got in between but it was all clear. I went back to combing my hair and then suddenly, the curtain fluttered again and this time the white curtain had shades of blue in it. I got scared and dropped my comb. I pressed my back into the mirror and looked at the curtain in horror as the blue shades started slowly spreading and it formed a blue ombre similar to the one I saw in the lake.

I was so scared that even a sound was not coming from my mouth. I stood frozen against the mirror in utter terror. I gathered my courage and stepped forward slowly trying to get a hold of the curtain. As I touched it, water dripped from it steadily right down my hands.

I was horror stricken and threw my hands back. It was then someone started knocking on the door quickly with short quick knocks. I was too terrified to move from my spot and stood rooted there for a minute. When the knocking didn't die down, I slowly went closer to the door, grabbing a vase from my dressing table.

I took a deep breath and pulled the door open with one hand and raised my other hand with the vase in it, in a motion to strike. To my surprise, David was standing in front of my room in his pajamas and a small diary clutched to his hand.

"God! David! I would have hit you now. Why didn't you tell me it was you?"

"I wanted to give you this."

"What's this? Couldn't this wait till morning?" I said taking the diary from his hand.

"This is all I can tell. Don't tell mama." he said and ran away to his room.

"What?" I looked at him puzzled. As his small figure retreated in the dark corridors, I noticed someone staring at me from the base of the stairs below. It was Richard and he had his sly smile on his face. Just when I edged close to the handrail to ask him why he was here, he disappeared into the shadows without a sound.

"What is this?" I asked, looking at the small brown diary which David gave me. "Why did he tell me not to tell Amanda?"

And when I opened the diary to the first page, I had a vague idea on why David said that.

In the first page of the diary, in bold black letters it was written,

"THE DIARY OF ALYSA" and then below that in red ink, "David's mother"