Echoes of Oblivion

▫️prologue ▫️

AGE 11

The priest,Father Marcus, concludes the burial with a small prayer,and with that people slowly disperse to their various homes. Some of my mom friends at the bar down town where she worked at gave me a gentle pat on my shoulder reassuring me everything is going to be okay. But I don't think so.

Everything changes for me. I lost my mom to breast cancer and the days leading to her death I could see her life slipping away from her,so slowly. Every day was as if she was hanging by a thread,like death was just around the corner waiting. Until it was time to take her away from me.

And it finally got my mom.

No one knows tomorrow it what they always say,but I knew the outcome of my mom's sickness was going to end one way....but how hard I hoped,I prayed. Every day. I thought there was a God who listens to prayers, especially the ones of the little children. Oh,how hard I thought.

I can hear the thunder roll,but it feels distant, everything feels distant. My eyes feel so heavy from the tears i shed last night while thinking of mom. I don't think I have stopped crying since the day the doctor confirmed she was dead. The priest, father Marcus.was there to say a little prayer,it felt so final that I couldn't stay any more,I left the room. Mom says it's a very bad thing to leave in the middle of a prayer. But I didn't care much longer,she wasn't there to scold me,she won't be here to put me to bed,to cook for me,to hug me Everytime I came back from school and ask me how my day was. She always asks me.

But I guess that life for you, everything comes and go. Nothing stays permanent.

At first thought,I think it was my tears,that I was crying again, until it touched my head and down my body did I realize it was the rain. I don't even make a move to go back inside the church. I just stood here looking at my mom's grave. The headstone.

AGNES GABRIEL
Loving mom,and a compassionate friend.

Nothing about her being a good sister,or a good daughter. I guess it my naive eleven year old me expecting her parents and sister to come to her funeral,but none came. My mom has always told me she had a toxic parent and not a very good upbringing but she always found a way to stay at the right track no matter what. She always wanted a good life for me,and she will do everything to succeed that,she didn't want to raise me the same way her parents did.

Once,she told me,her and her senior sister were really tight,but I guess that changed too.

My clothe,soaked,I could feel my eyes sting with tears,but It wouldn't let down. I feel so drained. I don't have a mom anymore. It feels like my whole world just fell apart. Nothing is the same anymore. Everything changes. And I don't like this change,I don't want it.

Someone stands besides me,with an umbrella shedding both of us from the rain. I look up to see the man my mom told me is my father. Who visits thrice a month to see me. I see the resemblance in his eyes and the same hair color. I could remember the first day I saw him at our house after I came back from school,so eager because Mom said she had a surprise waiting for me at home after school. I was so ecstatic that I nearly missed him in our little parlour,I knew I saw a car outside, expensive and so clean but i thought it belonged to someone else visiting a neighbor so i really did not pay much attention. Until I step inside of our parlour seeing him sitting in our worn sofa, looking awkward at me,when my introduced us. I didn't even know what to feel. So I just stood there,both of us looking at ourselves, waiting for who was going to make the first move,my mom saved us from that .

I have frequently asked her if I ever had a dad,and she always finds a way to dodge the question,until I stopped asking because I liked it that I was with my mom. We were happy. And we loved each other.

He puts his hands around my shoulder and gives me a reassuring smile.i did not even expect him to be here,but he was,even if we weren't that close i appreciate his presence. It felt comforting.

"It's going to be okay,I will take care of you". He says to me. " Let go inside the church first, okay,"

"But--mom--" I begin,my throat feels hoarse, cracking at the end.

"She's always with you,and you need not worry anymore because you also have me too"

I nod slowly. Because he was right. And he showed me that in different ways,just like that he became my most second important person in my life.

A/n -- Please like and comment,and share your thoughts about this chapter.it really helps. 🤍