Transition

Chapter 1

"Ma!" Two small hands would reach out to her  mid-air and after a few steps,they'd finally catch her.

Having seen her child, she simply  picked her up, giving her a peck.

"Aaaah, there you are!" She greeted her daughter, her voice sweetened and high-pitched.

After a long shift of writing and evaluating the success of the magazine, her professional self was slowly fading away, a gentle figure replacing her being  instead.

"Where's your sister darling?" Mona looked around the small entryway and further into the cozy living room, a children's show already running, dolls and toys being thrown out everywhere.

It didn't take long for the small girl to point her finger at her younger sibling, who was rushing to embrace her mother, who lowered her stature and  embraced her with the other arm.

She picked up the other child, kissing and giving them as much love as she could while lifting them up, putting them back down as soon as she couldn't bear their weight, as they ran back to their toys.

"Mona!" From the other side of the room, another woman appeared, short, gray haired, and meek, but still dressed stylishly with the blues and blacks, as Mona gave her a weak smile.

"How was the day,darling?"

"Tiring, as always." She fixed her jacket and took off her shoes as she started walking to the stairs. "But I still manage to forget how much that work drains me minutes coming to the house."

"Must be the daughters. You miss them." The old lady chuckled, patting Mona's shoulder.

Instead of saying anything of sorts, Mona gave a quick nod instead. After all what had happened, she'd rather keep herself silent from admitting much.

The hallway felt empty in contrast with the first floor. They hadn't quite fixed everything, even after a year. Still, Mona had plans for the house as soon as she'd get her next paycheck. Running her hands on the wall, to the very end, and cutting the contact, she opened the bathroom door.

It was quite cramped, but she'd rather not head to the bathroom in the master bedroom, nor to that bedroom at all.She would just wash her face and do her needs here, and try to not get reminded of all those years, and do anything insane of sorts, as Barbeloth would put it.

Because loving him alone was insane enough.

She took a long look at herself, washed over any makeup, having to get used to the seemingly bland and empty face.

Lucille, the older one, had her eyes, the same face she did.It was as if looking into a mirror, all her past mistakes, her ignorance, everything that had led her here. Yet, even if she broke a mirror, thousands of other pieces would reflect her as well.

Hoshiko had his eyes, his face. Something she never wanted to see, but she loved her daughter, with all her heart.

No matter how much her family, especially the old lady would comment on it, she didn't want to care at all. Because she did care, more than anyone else, their eyes on such innocents made her heart ill, though she hid it like no one else would.

What mattered was that everything had been going well.

Except for her. Somehow, she was still stuck somewhere. Through all the conflict and the struggle to break out alone, she hadn't quite achieved it yet. It made her body sizzle, her head even heavier than it was. In the end, she wasn't satisfied, she wasn't happy.

In the end, she gave a last splash of water on her face,as if she'd wash off all she'd thought about.

"Mommy! The door's ringing!" The little children would spin around her and immediately run away giggling as soon as she'd reach for the door knob.