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The Story

I guess the time has finally come. Martha thought as she entered the old, dusty, house. The house had once been teeming with life and joy, now it just looked sad and lonely. Martha's parents, who had lived in this house died just over 2 years ago. Now the city was looking to reuse the land for a new apartment building. Martha had to clean up and get the furniture out before they could start building though.

Martha walked into the house, through the blue creaky door with hinges that hadn't been oiled in a couple years. The floor squeaked a bit after so much time of going unused. The room smelled of dust and water. A hallway was right in front of Martha, a small living room to her right and a stairway that went up to the second floor. The pictures on the walls of the hallway were coated with dust. Nothing had been touched since the death of her parents. Martha took off her shoes and headed for the kitchen, deciding to start cleaning there.

The kitchen was silent, except for the light tapping of her feet on wood. Martha had brought in some cardboard boxes to pack everything into. As she was cleaning, Martha found a small cake pan. She started to cry.

When Martha had been three years old, she wanted to make a birthday cake for her dad. She and mom had been icing the small vanilla cake, when Martha had accidentally gotten some icing on her nose. Mom quickly used her finger to swipe up the frosting, and promptly ate it. "I wanted to eat it," three year old Martha whined, "It was my frosting!"

"It wasn't your frosting, it was for your dad's!" Mom laughed

"As pay back, I should put some frosting on your nose and this time I get to eat it," little Martha said with an evil laugh. Mini Martha got some frosting on her finger and lightly poked mom's nose, getting frosting on her face. Soon enough, both girls' faces were almost completely covered in white frosting. Hearing all the laughter and getting curious, Dad came down. Upon entering, he burst out in laughter, "What is going on down here? Did a frosting blizzard happen?"

The room filled with laughter, everyone was having so much fun. Martha faded back into reality. "That was so much fun. I wish I could bake a cake with mom again." Martha continued to pack up the kitchen a bit more, then move on to the next room. Most of the stuff in the kitchen was just pots and pans that her parents had been given once they retired. Finally, after about another hour, the kitchen was mostly packed up. The only stuff that wasn't packed up was the items that needed to be packaged with bubble wrap, which Martha didn't have at the moment.

Martha walked to the door by the sink. This led to a room with wood flooring, floral wallpaper, and craft supplies all along the walls and cupboards. On one wall, there were rolls of fabric in all colors, horizontally hanging on the wall. Martha walked over, and touched the first fabric she ever used. It was a white fabric with purple flowers printed on it. I remember this, I made a skirt for mom because it was too long to fit me.

Martha had just turned 7 years old, she had skipped into the same room the real Martha was in now. Her mom was standing near the wall of fabrics, carefully feeling each one. "What are you doing mom?"

"Do you know Clarisse? The girl who lives next door?" Mom asked.

"Of course I do! She's my best friend." Martha said while throwing her arms up in the air.

"Then you should know that her princess themed birthday party is coming up soon." replied Mom

"Oh yeah! She's been talking about it for the entire day." Martha slumped and made a 'ugh' face. Mom laughed.

"Well, her mom asked me to make her a princess dress for her to wear on her birthday, so I'm deciding what fabric to use. What do you think she'd like?" asked mom.

"The purple one! Clarisse's favorite color is purple. She also likes silver, teal, pink, and rainbow." The Matter-of-Fact tone Martha used made Mom laugh again.

"Okay, purple it is!" Mom pumps her arm in the air.

"Mom, will you teach me how to make a dress? I want to make one for Clarisse and give it to her too!" Little Martha looked up at her mom with puppy-dog eyes as she asked the question.

Laughing, her mom said, "How can I say 'no' to such a cute little seamstress".

The two spent the rest of the afternoon together, Mom teaching Martha how to sew, and Martha trying her best to learn. They didn't realize how late it had gotten until Dad called, "time for dinner! Finish up so we can eat." Laughing again, they held a very small fashion show for Dad, showing off the costumes they made together.

Martha once again faded back into reality, this time crying even harder. She hadn't even realized she was crying until she felt the soft, wet tears fall onto her hands. Oh, I'm crying. I didn't know I missed them this much. Martha clutched the fabric to her face. I don't even care if I stain the fabric, I just need to feel my family close.

Martha stayed there for a couple more minutes, not really feeling anything, Just standing there. I'm not being productive here. I'm going to try the next room. Martha headed back through the door to the kitchen, then from the kitchen to the stairs.

On the upper level of the house, there was a hall going left to right, with three doors and one more at the end of the hallway. The door to the right was Martha's old room, and to the left of it was a bathroom and a closet. The door at the end of the hallway was her parents' old room. I guess I'll start there and get the biggest room done first.

She walked into the room and was overcome with grief. The smell of roses mixed with spices, the clothes her parents had worn since she was a child, and the furniture all in the places she remembered. Martha broke down on her knees next to the bed. "Why? Why did you have to leave me? I don't want to be here all alone anymore." Her voice got quieter as she cried.

Martha remembered the last time her mom was sick, the last time she was here. Martha had kneeled down in this exact same spot next to her mom. Martha felt the warmth of her mom's hand on her cheek for just a second when it fell back down. With the last of her voice, her mom said, "I'll always be here, you don't have to feel alone, just look for me in your heart and you won't ever be alone." She remembered the sound of Mom's wheezing last breath, How strangely calm her mom sounded in those last breaths, like she was glad she lived life. But why would anyone want to live life when everyone around you will eventually die? Martha felt like she could hear her Mom's voice saying, "Even though everyone might die, aren't you glad you got to spend the time with them in this beautiful world?"

Martha opened her eyes to see the sun shining through a window on the right, Everything seemed to sparkle again. The fog that had clouded Martha's vision lifted. She hadn't even realized it was there. Martha smiled, a real smile, for the first time in years.

Martha slowly stood up, walked to the kitchen, and started cooking. She made some quick cucumber sandwiches. Her family's signature lunch. Once she finished packing up all of her food, she went to the flower shop nearby and bought some white oriental lilies. And, for the first time in years, Martha visited her parent's graves.

Martha set up a small red gingham blanket on the ground, placing the lilies on the graves, opened up her lunch and started talking. Talking about everything that had happened since they'd died, since she'd been working, everything and nothing, all at once. She was talking with her parents until sunset, when the cemetery was closing.

After that day, Martha started visiting and talking to her parents at least once a month. Martha ended up declining the city to take the house. She renovated it and started living in the house. Even as she grows old, and may not have the best memory, she'll always be grateful for the day that she visited her parents house. Even if it may have been emotional and sad, Martha's still grateful, for the time she spent with her parents, and for everyone else in her life. Mom, Dad, I love you and I promise I'll live this life to the fullest before seeing you again.