One More Day

Chapter 1: Day One

I came back home from the hospital. I was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. I used to have these unusual headaches when I was a child. I would take some pills and make it go away. Now the doctors told me the tumor has spread in most parts of my brain that they cannot help me. They prescribed me some medicines to help me with its symptoms. Any day could be my last, they said.

I entered my home and there she was, standing with tears in her eyes, my mother. My father had already told her about me while we were driving back home. I gave her a tight hug and told her,

"Everything will be okay Mom, I will fight it".

I know this was a lie that I told myself and my mother to keep us going. Then I walked upstairs to my room and closed the door. I went to my bed and sat on it with my hands on my head. I could still hear my mother crying and there was nothing I could do because I was the reason.

My name is Peter and I am the only child of my family. I rubbed my face with my hands and got up. I had decided to live everyday like it is my last. I went down to the living room to spend some quality time with my family. We talked with each other and later we had lunch. My mother was barely eating. She hardly said anything. She just kept looking at me. She wasn't crying anymore. After lunch, I talked with my father that I want to take a walk in the park to ease my mind. He insisted that he should come with me but I denied saying I want some time of my own. My mother finally said something. She told my father to let me go. She then gave me a tight hug.

I went out of the door. It was almost 4 pm. I took my headphones out and played my "favorite songs" playlist. I then started walking down the street. After almost 30 minutes of walking, I got tired. Maybe it was one of my symptoms or I was just tired. I saw a park nearby, so I walked towards it. I reached the park and looked around for a bench to sit on. I found one a few steps away. I got there and sat. It felt good. The weather was cloudy, the way I like it to be. Everything seemed perfect. Except me, well I wasn't perfect. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to relax.

My rest was interrupted when someone shook my hand. It was a girl.

"Excuse me?" she said softly.

I looked up at her and there she was, standing and I was mesmerized. She was beautiful. She was wearing a jogging suit.

"Excuse me?" she said again as I hadn't replied her before.

"Yes?" I replied hesitantly.

"Can I please use your phone? The battery of my phone had died."

I couldn't deny her, definitely so I said,

"Yes, of course."

But I didn't give her the phone. I just looked at her.

"The phone?" she asked and gave me a smile.

That was awkward. It happened for the second time. I got a grip to myself and pretended that this didn't happen.

"Yes, here you go" and I handed her the phone.

She called her parents I could tell. She was telling them that she would be back in a while and that her mobile had switched off due to low battery. She ended the call. She handed me my phone back and walked away.

I didn't get a chance to ask her name. I felt miserable. It was awful. I was disappointed in me. I put my phone back in my pocket and went straight home as it was getting dark.

I reached home at about quarter to 7. Something was different. There was no crying. It was better and felt like home again. My Mom cooked my favorite dinner, Macaroni & Cheese. I know why she did that but it was good. I went to my Mom and kissed her. I freshened up, washed my hands and sat on the table. We all had dinner together. That didn't use to happen before. When we finished, I told my mother and father that I appreciate for what they are doing, but I asked them to treat me like nothing is going on. I furthermore told them that this will only make it worse for me realizing each day that I don't have enough time. They shook their head and later I helped my Mom clear the table.

Afterwards, I went upstairs. Today was a rough day and I needed rest. I went to the washroom to change my clothes and get ready for bed. I came out, turned off the lights and placed my head on the pillow. I closed my eyes. This was the second time today when my rest was bothered. It had hardly been a few minutes that my eyes opened due to a beeping sound from my mobile. It was a message. I opened it, that said,

"Hello Mr. Phone Guy from the park."