Thomas Hewitt: End Of The Line

Silver Lining

Just around the corner where a kind voice had told him to go, Thomas found shelter from the storm. It was brighter, the sun peaked through the clouds more often than not as the years flew by and it kept him warm, even when the rain returned from time to time. He found a way to let it bring growth, become whole again through them. Luda and Penny had rewritten the story that Hoyt intended to haunt that house with, they erased it. The walls instead breathed happy memories, just as they were built to encapsulate. It looked different than he'd planned, the life he shared with them, but he found it had been just as fulfilling. She was in every moment and when those aches in his chest threatened to return at the thought that she should have been there, she shouldn't have missed this, that hand found it's place on his shoulder to reassure him that she knew. Somewhere, somehow, he knew that Ronnie was beaming as she watched Penny grow and grow she did. It seemed as quick as turning a page that she stood taller than Luda. It was strange how time moved and rearranged each of them in its own, slow yet painfully quick way. Luda had been her shelter, so had Tommy and in the blink of an eye, the tables had turned. Penny no longer needed shelter, she ran free from it and in her freedom, she chose to become theirs. She had taken after Thomas in that sense. She cared for them quietly, never sought out plaudits as she sat by Luda's bedside when the day came that her feet failed her. She'd stay all day sometimes, soaking in each word Luda spoke and dug deep to latch onto the wisdom she offered. She had a hunger for knowledge, for their history and she didn't shy away from the grisly details when it came time for her to hear them. She didn't allow them to shield her from it, she needed to know. Penny was very aware that she was the last member of the family, the line ended with her and she couldn't allow herself to live a life without answers, because one day her questions would be left to the wind. Luda, however required no explanation for those sometimes difficult questions she asked. She admired her desire to know the story front to back and her ability to forgive their past, much like her mother. Penny was so much like Ronnie in more ways than she'd ever know. It went beyond her physical appearance, their souls seemed to have been cut from the same cloth and sewn together by god's grace. Sometimes when she spoke, it took both of them aback. For someone who's memory of her had been stolen by age, she emulated her as if she'd spent every day beside her. He saw it clearer than ever the day Luda passed. It was in her eyes as she listened to the last few whispers Mama had to share with her. She sat there clutching her hand, stubbornly holding back tears just like Ronnie used to.

"You can cry, baby. There's strength in lettin' out," Mama said as she weakly squeezed Penny's trembling hand, "but let me see you smile one more time before I go."

It was then she lost her battle against letting them fall, but she smiled through them for Luda as her hand rested on her wet cheek. Luda had been the mother that was stolen from her, just as she'd been for Thomas and even Ronnie in the brief time they'd known each other. She had healed both of them in the years she spent with them, she was always good at mending what was broken. There was solace for each of them to find in knowing in the last few years of her life she'd been happy there, just as she deserved. They'd cared for her just as she had them and she didn't die alone as she once thought she would. They were both beside her.

"There she is," Luda said with a weak smile of her own as her eyes dutifully studied her granddaughter's image, "there's my girl. You keep on doin' that, smilin' for me, okay? And that pain you feel, right here," she reached up slowly and tapped the center of Penny's chest, "own it, baby. It's love and it's family. Death don't change that and it ain't goodbye. I'll be right here, just like your mama is."

She turned to Thomas after that and Penny lowered her head as her smile fell away again, but Luda's remained as she gazed up at her son with a fading gleam in her eyes, "And you," she whispered before she took one last deep breath, "I am so proud of you, Thomas."