The Mysterious castle

Death

Rafael's view

It was a night.
A white moon shone on the thatched roofs.
This night was nothing special, there was no full moon, and no magic was happening, but it was still different from the others.
I sat in the darkened hall, and held my mother's hand.
She was lying on the bed and it was very difficult for her.
She was sweating, coughing, and burning all over.
She had not been well for a long time.
We all assumed it was because of how it rained on Thursday.
It was summer, and summer rains are very frequent.
We were drying the hay for the animals that day, and we had to hide it quickly to prevent it from being soaked by the rain. She stayed out for a long time, and even though we all got wet, she was the only one who got through it with her health.
She had been feverish for several days, but today was the worst.
In the back of my mind, I was very worried that I was holding her hand for the last time.
"James..." Mother said her husband's name in a fever.
My stepfather.
I didn't like him, he was never nice to me, he didn't respect my opinions, he thought I was a stupid boy who thinks he knows everything best.
He taunted me about it mainly because I reproached him for his behavior towards my mother.
He beat her.
She always looked like a cowed sheep, absolutely unable to stand up for herself. I was her son, and therefore I took it as my duty to defend her.
But every time after that, when my stepfather and I had a terrible fight, she would come to me in the barn (where I often went to calm down) and gently admonish me not to argue with her husband.
That she likes him, and he certainly didn't mean it that way.
But I knew mine.
He was a crude man, a bully and a hypocrite. He recognized no one but himself, and no woman at all.
Mother was only a servant to him, nothing more, nothing less.
And I was a thorn in his side.
If the cottage wasn't my mother's but his, he would have kicked me out a long time ago.
I would pack at most a little food, maybe some family treasure he wouldn't know about, and go wherever my feet would take me. Without a single penny.
"James..." Mother said again and turned her head.
"James isn't here, Mom. But he's sure to come soon." I comforted her and stroked the back of her hand with my thumb.
I honestly didn't believe my words myself.
When my mother started feeling sick again today, he packed up and left for the pub.
He had been going to the pub a lot for the last few months and wouldn't come back until early the next morning, always completely drunk.
My mother was starting to get annoyed because it was running into money. But she couldn't say anything if she didn't want to have a cause trouble.
"Ra..." she apparently wanted to address me, but she coughed a lot.
I always had the feeling that both of her lungs would burst with a fit.
It was a terrible sound."Yes mom?" I asked.
"Forest..." She continued, breathing raggedly.
,, Forest? " I frowned.
She was delirious with fever and looked more and more out of sorts.
Tears flowed from my eyes.
The last time I cried was when I was a little boy and my dad died, I was ten.
Today I was eighteen, and I cried all the same.
My mother was dying.
She lay there, her illness slowly taking her life.
Suddenly she opened her eyes and it looked like she was going to have a heart attack.
I watched with bated breath to see what would happen.
She then looked up dreamily and said, "I love you so much."
I felt like my heart would burst.
This couldn't be true, she doesn't say goodbye, does she?!
I need her! She's the last person I could trust, love, confide in, she was my only parent!
Suddenly her grip loosened, her head dropped into the pillows and her eyes closed in a blank expression.
Her chest didn't rise anymore and she didn't respond when I spoke to her.
"I love you too." I whispered, biting my lip to keep from screaming out in despair.
It was over.

Hello my dear readers! I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this moment-publishing the first chapter of this story!
I hope you enjoyed the story and don't forget to post your feedback!
I look forward to writing a dedication to the first of YOU for the next chapter! 😘
Yours K. M. Rozsival. 😘❤️