My Mother's Shadow

Chapter One: A Gift at A Funeral

Rosemary was getting used to funerals. Standing between her brother and grandmother, staring at her mother's pretty, green casket, Rose wondered if it was normal to have been to as many funerals as she had. It didn't matter either way because it wasn't normal for your mother to die while you were only twenty-three, either.

Looking past the casket, she spotted a man. He was so close to the casket that she worried he'd fall into the six-foot hole. He cried, the same way that she, her brother, and her grandmother cried, heartbroken and resigned. Like the rest of Sage's family, he knew this would happen.

He placed a white flower on top of the casket before walking away. The crowd followed him, each placing their own flowers before moving back to their original places. When it was Rose's turn, she put hers on top of the pile, imagining they were all tied up like a beautiful bouquet her mother could enter heaven with.

"I wish you hadn't done this," Rose muttered, hoping that her mother's ghost was listening. "You should have just come home like you promised."

Her memories of Sage were overwhelmingly good. Sage never yelled at Rose or Apollo, at least not that Rose could remember. She'd taken them at least once a week to a different park, and played with them while they were out.

She wasn't the best mom, but Rose could tell she always wanted to be better.

When she returned to her seat, she saw the man from earlier was seated behind her. If she spoke with him, would she find out more about her mother's life? Would he tell her how her mother ended up here?

When the funeral was over, Rose asked her brother and grandmother to go home without her. She wanted to be alone. She took one last glance at her mother's final resting place before leaving. The walk home would be twenty minutes.

She didn't want to admit it, but she was angry at her mother, not only for dying but for ever promising that they would be together again. Sage, Rose and Apollo. Even as an adult, Rose eagerly awaited that day. She stayed close to her grandmother so her mom could always find her, hoping that she would finally tell them it was time to go home.

"Rosemary Jones?"

She turned to find the man she'd noticed earlier. He was a white man, with long black hair and light blue eyes. He wore a black, knee-length coat and black jeans.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a friend of your moms. She asked me to give you something," He said, rummaging through several coat pockets before finding what he'd been looking for.

He smiled as he handed it to her. She didn't know why, but his smile reminded her of Apollo. She took the gift. She realized it might be more sensible not to accept a gift from a stranger, but she did anyway.

He presented her with a small, beautifully wrapped gift-box. The dark red box was adorned with a vibrant green ribbon, neatly tied into a bow. Inside, on a bed of velvet, was a stunning silver necklace with a chain that led to a green, heart-shaped charm.

As she lifted the necklace to get a better look at it, she found a note hidden beneath it; The story of a shadow is locked within this Sage.

When she looked up to ask the man what it meant, he was gone.

As she walked home, Rose thought about her grandfather. He'd done everything he could to help Sage until the day he got sick and couldn't anymore.

She was seventeen the last time she spoke to him. He'd mentioned demons chasing his daughter and how his only wish was for her to finally get away. Rose didn't know if it was a metaphor or if he was delusional. Her grandmother complained about Sage poisoning his mind with nonsense. The next day, he was gone before Rose or Apollo finished school.