Kissed by Chaos

Kissed by Chaos (19) - Remembering

The image on the right was found at http://browse.deviantart.com/photography/?q=child%20waiting#/d2bqeyu

It is called 'waiting for sunshine' by 'heatherspettals'. It does not belong to me, all rights to the artist. 

Wow... this is more than I've ever written of a story. Thanks to everyone who's ever read Kissed by Chaos. Hope you enjoy!

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Kissed by Chaos

Chapter 19 - Remembering

As a child, I would sit and wait for my mother.

I was convinced that she would return home. Surely Father was just playing a cruel joke on Elisabeth and me when he said Mother was gone for good. Surely no mother could just up and leave, forgetting their husband, children and home. This sort of thing had never happened to any of my friends, so why would it happen to me? Aside from the power I had inherited from my mother, I was the most normal girl of my friends. I came from a tight knit family of four and every day we toiled in the fields for our sustenance. Elisabeth and I fought with each other, just like all siblings did, but we could not live without each other. My parents loved each other immensely and their loved had survived all the hardships that came in the package deal of being a peasant. Yes, everything was almost normal in that life of mine, so what reason was there for my mother to suddenly disappear?

I would trek through the field behind our house and venture into the forest. The trees would stretch their branches out protectively over me, shielding me from the harsh afternoon sun. I would haul myself up these branches, stopping now and then to remove splinters that had found their way into my hands. I never fell from a tree, not once. The branches held me up several metres above the ground, their solid strength beneath me assuring me that I was safe in their arms. No harm would come to me.

When I was up high enough to see peasants working hard way below and the impressive castle stretching up into the clouds, I would wait. I told myself that even the thought of my mother leaving was ridiculous. I told myself that any moment now I would see her earthy brown hair billowing behind her as she sprinted into Father’s arms, explaining the completely understandable and logical reason why she had been forced to leave behind her family for a short while.

Unfortunately, I waited for so long that one day I came to the realisation that simply wishing for something and telling yourself that everything would go back to normal was not enough.

I stopped myself from venturing into the forest so often. I forced myself to stop craning my neck to search for her shadow. I told myself that enough was enough.

I had not uttered my mother’s name in a whole year. But on my eighth birthday the memory of her smile fought its way into my mind once again.

Early that morning, when Elisabeth and Father were still fast asleep, I crept out of the house and into the freezing morning light. I remember that the sun was just fighting its way into the sky, casting a soft yellow glow over the landscape.

When I reached the edge of the field behind our house, I finally caught myself. I was just being a silly child, roaming where she ought not to roam, searching for someone that had no desire to be found. Just when I was about to turn back and creep back into my bed, I heard it – the faintest whisper, flitting through the trees. I did not stop to think twice. I simply ran, hoping to find my way into my mother’s welcoming, waiting arms.

If I concentrated hard enough, I could smell her scent on the wind, because a child can place their mother’s scent even amongst the largest of crowds. The scent was of butter, of salt, of hay, of clean clothes and a warm embrace.