Now I let you go

Untitled Part 10

After pondering his answer for a while, he took Sarah's hand and said, "Honestly, I would thank the doctor and try to make the most of my last months of life, and before you ask why not take advantage of the help of the so-called magical genius, the truth, sweetheart, is that I have already lived my life. I have a nice house, I got married, I raised my wonderful children who gave me beautiful grandchildren. I travelled to the places I wanted, ate what I wanted, and lived as I wanted. There are things that I would have liked to achieve or change, but it is the life I chose, and, in the words of Amado Nervo, you owe me nothing life, we are at peace. Death doesn't scare me Sarah, I've completed my cycle, so I would only take advantage of my last days."

Honestly, Sarah didn't expect that answer. For a moment she froze in place trying to process the information she had just heard and knew what she had to do. All this time she had been so focused on her grief that she never considered what her grandmother thought, but now she understood that she had left peacefully and without any regrets. The only thing Sarah managed to do was hug her tightly while thanking her, not only for answering her question, but for having taken care of her and giving her some of the best memories of her childhood, before leaving she placed a kiss on her cheek and asked her for one last favour.

She asked her to sing the lullaby she used to sing to her when she was a child and couldn't sleep. Her grandmother gladly agreed, and Sarah quickly pulled out her phone to record her voice. If there was one thing he regretted, it was never having asked him for this, because little by little he was forgetting the sound of his voice, and he didn't want that to happen. Her grandmother wrapped her in her arms and began to sing the song, a couple of tears sliding down Sarah's eyes. Once again, he heard that warm and sweet voice humming the melody he missed so much. The sweet sound reached her heart and things around her became blurred, she felt that 5-year-old girl again and the memories of her playing with her grandmother at dolls, colouring mandalas and making mischief came to her mind.

As soon as her grandmother stopped singing, she kissed her on the forehead and said, "Remember when you were a little girl, and we went for a walk when it was getting dark? I told you that the first star that came out in the sky was my star, the day I'm no longer here you just have to look at the sky and when the first star comes out, you'll find me, okay sweetheart?" Sarah nodded and said goodbye with one last "I love you."

He knew it was time to leave and so he did. Once he got to his present something felt different. Not different as if he had managed to convince his grandmother, rather something different inside. She no longer felt that emptiness because now when she brought to her mind the memories with her grandmother, she no longer felt pain. She felt grateful because life allowed her to get to know her, to be her granddaughter, to love her, to play and laugh with her. Now she knew that her grandmother had lived a full life. Through her window she saw that the sky was getting dark and she looked out to see the first star rise, but minutes passed, and it never appeared.

The days went on. Sarah discovered one morning that she was late for her chemistry class, that the watch no longer had the power to travel in time, now it just worked like a normal clock, but she felt good about it. Sarah never told her parents about her travels and didn't plan to. Mrs. Rachel was also getting better every day, in her words, she would honor the best gift her mom could give her, life. Of course it was still hurting, but once her mother was there and while she was like that, she knew how to take advantage of the moments with her, including the countless fights they had when she was a teenager. What kept Mrs. Rachel calm was knowing that she was able to spend the last days by her mother's side and that she did not leave her alone in the process. She was at peace, too.

Time moved quickly. The air began to feel frozen. Sarah's last semester was coming to an end. She and her friends tried to take advantage of every class and every break, and the day came when they finally handed out the invitations to the graduation ceremony. He had succeeded, had finished high school with good grades and had won a scholarship at a renowned university.