Across The Oceans (girlxgirl)

Chapter 1

"Just remember, you're gonna make so many friends, fall in love with so many people, and do so many things when you grow up. One bad day, one heartbreak or one downfall isn't the end of the infinite possibilities in store for you." That was the last thing my dad had told me before putting me to sleep that night. The next morning, I woke up to the sound of sirens and my mom's wailing.

I knew something was wrong but being only a little girl, I was too scared to open my door and see something I'm not supposed to. I just sat there in my bed for what seemed like hours until Mariana, my au pair, came to my room.

The sirens and my mom's wailing were already gone but they still rung in my head.

I was too terrified to ask Mariana about them and I never saw mom or dad that day. Daddy didn't put me to sleep that night like he would - every night.

The next day, I woke up with my mom silently crying in my bed side and my heart broke into a million pieces.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" I asked her with hurt evident in my voice.

"Daddy's gone, Baby girl." My mom said as she tried to compose herself.

"That's okay, mom. I'm still here for you." I gave my mom a hug and she held me closer.

"Is daddy never coming back?"

"Did he leave because I was being a bad girl?"

"Did he not love me and mom anymore?"

"I thought dad loved mom more than anything but he made her cry. You should never make someone you love, cry. He taught me that. Did he forget?"

All these thoughts were running through my mind while I hugged my mother.

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That afternoon, Mom took me and Mariana to a little chapel just outside a park with stone tablets all over it. Everybody was there and they all wore black just like us.

There was a large rectangular box in front of the chapel and my Aunt Matilda was crying while she stood beside it.

"Why does everybody look grief-stricken?" I thought to myself.

I tugged my mom's tunic and she picked me up.

"Mom? Why is everybody sad?" I asked my mother.

"Remember what I told you this morning?" My mother asked.

"That daddy is gone?" I asked with confusion.

My mom nod her head yes and said, "Yes, honey. They're sad because daddy is gone."

I saw tears brimming in my mom's eyes and I hugged her just like that morning.

I still didn't understand where my father had gone to.

Mom took me to the large box in the room and there was my dad, inside it. He was sleeping peacefully. The question I have been keeping to myself since the day I heard the sirens and mom's lamentation have finally been answered.

"Mom! Dad's been hiding here!" I uttered in happiness.

My mother sadly smiled at me. "Yes, honey. He's still sleeping though."

"Oh ok, mom. Are we going to stay here until he wakes up?" I asked my mom with glee.

My cousin Julio called my name before my mom got the chance to answer.

"Tylar! Want to play with us? Ginny and Jaxine are outside." Julio said as my mom put me down.

I looked at my mom for permission and she nod her head yes with that sad smile still plastered on her face.

Julio grabbed my hand and we ran outside.

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Days have gone by and I saw less and less of mom but there was still no sign of dad after the day I saw him sleeping in that large box back in the chapel.

Mom would wake me up in the morning, cook me breakfast and we eat together with Mariana.

We would play a little and Mariana then takes me out for ice cream and when we get back home, mom wouldn't be there anymore.

Some nights, I wish dad would just finally show up and put me to sleep like he always did.

"Why is dad taking so long to wake up?"

"Is he like Aurora?"

"Does he need a princess to kiss him so he would finally wake up?"

"If so, why can't mom just kiss him already?"

"Don't they love each other anymore?"

Thoughts like these clouded my mind every night until we came to that small chapel again where the large rectangular box with my sleeping father, was.

Everyone looked even more grief stricken than the last time I was there. There were now much more people and my mother's eyes looked tired.

Everybody took a seat and the priest started to precede the liturgy.

The next thing I know, dad's box was already being brought out to the park with stone tablets and placed above a deep trench.

Everybody was crying except for me and the other kids my age.

"What is happening?"  I started to feel distressed and really uneasy.

With the heat of the sun radiating and the sound of people mourning, my vision blurred, my heart rate seemed to go faster, my hands started to tingle, panic, fear and uneasiness came over me and I couldn't breathe. It was like I was drowning in the sorrows that I didn't understand of people around me. That is the last thing I remember feeling that day.