Writing Prompts - Foretelling

[3]

- Always In Memories -

Grandparents.

People who have been by your side since you were a little baby; watched you grow from child to teenager and lastly to an adult. Always at your back, supporting you silently, watching along proudly.

They are people who have just always been there, and it feels like they always will be there.

But sadly, that's not true – that is not how the circle of life works. Because, while they have been there since the day you've been born, you as the grandchild have only been a tiny part at the end of their lives. A magnificent part maybe, but a small one none the less.

It would be a lie to say that all relationships towards grandparents were good. Sometimes the grandparents were too stuck in their old views and have a problem with their young grandchild. Sometimes your parents have a problem with your grandparents and thus keep you away from them. And sometimes it's the grandchild, an arrogant brat or a criminal, who is the problem.

But that's just the way of life. You met the most different people on your way, and you have to see if you get along or don't; if they are worth being around. Family, after all, doesn't have to be the one you were born into - you have to decide yourself who brings you happiness and peace.

Maya's parents, for example, didn't have her happiness as their top priority. They were always fighting - arguing about the most stupid things. Her only save place, save from judgement and disappointment, was her grandma's.

Luckily, she lived just a few streets away and was all too happy to watch after her granddaughter. She was quite lonely, and Maya was her little sunshine. Apparently, her grandfather was the one who graced her with that nickname. A little ray of sunshine, a saving light in the dark, so different from her parents; always a smile on her face, dimples smooching in her cheeks when she laughed.

She didn't remember much about her granddad, but she still could remember big hands tickling her stomach and blue eyes looking down at her through old reading glasses while he laughed along.

Apparently, her grandparents were the complete opposite of her parents - happily in love after over 40 years of marriage, always laughing, dancing in the kitchen along to old songs on the radio and cuddling while in bed at night.

It was sad really, that she didn't have many memories of them together.

And now? Now her grandmother was gone as well. Her only saving grace was the thought that her grandparents could finally be together again, wherever they were.

Still, the thought didn't manage to fully lift her spirits as she passed the sign welcoming her in her old hometown.

She hasn't been here in twenty years.

After she turned eighteen, her parents basically threw her out of their house. Finally finished with her responsibility of looking after the child they didn't really want until it was a legal adult. Really, Maya was quite lucky she wasn't made to go years earlier. At least they weren't abusive. Life could have been worse. Still after a few nights spent at her grandma's house, she said goodbye and left.

They called and talked weekly, but still she never was able to come back. Not in the town her parents lived.

But now she did return, after all. Her grandma had died. And isn't that just a weird thought. A person who has always been there, simply gone. Never to return again. Without a warning or even a goodbye.