All About Love

Ideal Home

"Hello? Ryan?" a gentle voice with a hint of excitement sounded from the phone.

"Yes mom. What is it?" he asked with an indulging voice, fully knowing what was going on.

"Son! There's a pleasant surprise for you!" his mother couldn't hold back her exhilaration.

"Oh my! Really mom? I'm so excited for your surprise." he couldn't help answering in an equally excited voice though the red rims of his eyes betrayed his mood.

"Haha! You'll get it soon!" Her joy was evident in her soft laugh.

"Wow mom! You're the best! Well for now I got to go, class is soon starting. See you after school mom. And of course your lovely surprise gift." Trying hard to restrain his choked up voice, he replied with a smile and hurriedly cut the call. Tears finally rolled down his eyes freely. It was happening again. His mother was yet again stuck in the painful past. And he couldn't do anything about it. Powerless and useless.

He was now a university student. He knew from the exclamation of 'Son!' that it was happening again. His mother now calls him by his name but when she forgets the reality and repeats the past she calls him her son just like she used to when he was in elementary school.

Classes were soon going to be over. His father should be waiting to take him home. He had to tell him about the situation too. After all, it has been almost 2 years since his mom's disease was acting up again. The frequency had decreased considerably but it was not eliminated in the end.

Getting out of his last class, he saw his father standing outside the university gate with his car. Walking up to him he got into the car and waited for his father to do the same. Afterwards, without wasting time he solemnly said, "Dad, Mom's disease is acting up again. Are the medicines ready?"

His father was startled. He had been waiting at the university after he got off his shift so he hadn't gone home. Hearing his son say so he couldn't help being shocked, "How did you know? It's been almost 2 years since she acted up. Though I have medicines, she'd need to be given a sedative as I don't know her situation yet."

"She called me during my class, saying the same old sentence that she had a surprise for me. Well I know. You'd probably need to use hypnosis therapy again." He said knowingly.

"Hmm. I'll see to it. For now, I'll drop you off at home. Try to appease her and wait for me to take the medicines later. She might be devastated if she's living those days again. If it's severe, she might see hallucinations as well. So try to keep her in control." His father stated.

He was dropped off in front of his house. Staring at the familiar house and the same old white gate, he was inexplicably scared to move forward. He didn't want to face the despairing face of his mother again.

It has been ten years since his biological father died. The day his father had died was the day when his mom had been trapped in an endless loop of pain and madness. He remembered that day very clearly. His mother, the same way she had just done, called his school teacher's phone and asked to talk to him. With the same excitement he had informed him of a surprise. But, though it was surely a surprise, it was a devastating one. At least for his mom.

His soldier father's corpse had been delivered that day when only the day before had he talked to his mother about returning home. It was a spy attack of the enemy country that had killed and injured several of their nation's soldiers in just one night. And the killed ones unfortunately included his biological father. This level of shock was unbearable for his mother and she directly collapsed. Afterwards her health deteriorated at a terrible and astonishing rate, almost looking half dead after only a month. The situation was way too horrible and he, an elementary school kid, could only watch from the sidelines, completely helpless. What was even more painful was to watch his mother stuck in the loop of that fateful day, every day repeating the same words and same actions.