Daughter Nature

Chapter 10-My Worst Day

"What did you do to make them so mad?" I asked Trina. We were in my room; Trina was sitting on my bed and I was pacing around the room, trying to figure out why everyone in town was so upset with Trina last night.

Trina shrugged. "Sky, I don't know," she replied. "The townspeople has always thought I was a gold digger. Without you around, I guess everyone thought I was vulnerable, and decided to 'attack' me."

"But they were so mad," I said. Trina shrugged again. "Maybe they're really hypersensitive," she said.

I sighed. "Guess so," I said.

The next day, I thought, you know what Sky? Why don't you go see Mom today? It had been a long time since I went to visit her--about 3 days. I had been busy with meeting Drew and making up with Trina.

So I went to the hospital, and walked through the maze of hallways, up to Mom's room. When I got there, I sat down next to my mother. She was awake--her eyes were tired, her face pale, her hands cold and weak--but she was awake. "Hi Mom," I said when I walked in.

"Hello, my dear, dear, Sky Nature," my mom replied, giving me a small smile. I smiled back, and took her hand in mine, trying to warm it up.

"Sky," my mom said, "I need to talk to you." She looked at my hands, my face, my hair, my eyes, and said, "I--wow. Look at how you've grown."

"Mom," I said, blushing. "I didn't grow that much. I mean, you've only been in the hospital, what, a month now?"

"And I think I might never get out!" Mom said in that teasing, fun, sparkly voice that I had been missing. I smiled, and giggled like a five-year-old.

"But Sky," my mom said in a much more serious voice, "I...you need..."

"Mom?" I said, my smile disappearing. "Mom? What is it, what's wrong?"

"Sky," my mom said, seeming to find whatever hidden strength it took to say that one word, "This isn't easy to say, or talk about, and you won't want to talk about it, but it must be discussed.

"I...am not who I used to be, and I don't think I will ever be again. Whether I live or die is of little importance, in the grand scheme of things, but what is important is you, Sky. You are the future for the world, my replacement, the next Mother Nature..."

"Mom," I said quietly, closing my eyes, shaking my head, but my mom shushed me. "It has come to my attention, over the past years, that you don't want to be Mother Nature," My mom said. She looked me hard in the eye, and continued. "You must, Sky. You simply have to inherit my title. Even if I come out of this hospital alive and well, I will not have to strength I used to have, the strength that it takes to take care of the world. So you must do it."

"Look, Mom," I said. "I get it, okay? I know I have to be Mother Nature. And you're right, I don't want to. Because becoming Mother Nature means...I won't have you. You won't be there. You'll be wherever your spirit decides to roam, but you won't be alive, you won't be at my side, you won't guide me like you always have. I'm ready, I can be Mother Nature, but if you're not there, it doesn't mean anything."

"Oh, my darling Sky," said mom, "If you are ready to be Mother Nature, it means I've done my job. It means you can do it. You won't have me, you're right, but you put it best--You. Are. Ready.

"And you will never be without me. My spirit lives on in you, and it will live on in your descendant. I'm in the trees, in the rivers, in the ground, and in your heart. You can never really get rid of me," my mom said with a playful smirk. I wasn't so convinced.

"I'm a part of you, Sky. I'm a part of your memories, a part of your creations, a part of this world, a part of your life. I will never leave. Never."

"Never?" I asked, putting my mother's hand against my cheek. "Never," my mother replied. I smiled, closed my eyes, started repeating the word in my mind. She's always with me, I thought. Never away.

An hour later, I was walking around the park with Drew.

Drew, in all his adorable, seven-year-old glory, was licking a strawberry ice cream cone, smiling and skipping on the sidewalks that crisscrossed all around the park. "Ya know," he said to me, "I never thought I'd meet an angel that wasn't going to take me to heaven." I laughed, and replied, "Drew, you are adorable."

Drew blushed. "Thank you," he mumbled, and he smiled.

We left the park, went into the big city, visited the museum, counted cars, listened to a guitarist on the street corner (Drew fished a fifty cent piece from his pocket and dropped it in the guitarist's jar), chased pigeons, rented some bikes, rode the bikes, returned the bikes, and finally, I had to take Drew back home.

I wanted to ask Drew about his hairless head, but I didn't want to embarrass him or anything, so I held back my questions. I dropped Drew back at his house, and when no one was looking, I used the air currents to push myself back home.

I felt on top of the world as I entered the palace, but my happy attitude was quickly deflated. Very quickly.

When I got back home, I saw all the bark guards and the cooks crying and hyperventilating, asking questions like, "What do we do? Where do we go? Will things ever return to normal?"

With scenes of despair such as that surrounding me, I knew I had to find Miss Crystal and get her to explain what had happened. I found her in the most unlikely place--the room with the beige map, the room where my mother would spend most days working and manipulating the weather.

Miss Crystal was clutching the map and crying (I never knew Miss Crystal could cry, with her diamond eyes and all). I almost started crying too, at the sight.

"Miss Crystal," I whispered, "What happened?"

Miss Crystal sniffled, and wiped her eyes (to no avail) and said, "Sky. This will be very hard to hear..." She started sobbing again, and my breath quickened.

"We all knew this day was coming," Miss Crystal continued, hugging the map, tears sliding down her face. "Sky, your mother..."

"My mother...what? What happened, Miss Crystal?" I said, raising my voice slightly.

"She's gone, Sky," said Miss Crystal, in a voice so quiet I almost missed it.

"Gone?" I asked, to no one in particular. I sank to the floor, my heart pounding in my ears. Unnoticed tears slid down my face. I held myself and stared at the floor, not blinking, not believing.

But it was the truth. It was confirmed by Miss Crystal's tears and the despair of all the workers.

Dead. Gone. Passed. The words thumped against my skull.

I sobbed. I cried and cried and cried and cried...at some point Miss Crystal got on her knees and wrapped her arms around me, crying...Dead. Gone. Passed...Miss Crystal and I, sobbing...

I went unconscious.

~Author's Note~

I never knew I could feel such sorrow for a character of my own creation.

Are you guys sad too? Are you even a little sad?

Well...I have to go. Bye.