This is the first time i'm publishing my work online (don't be too hard on me hahha). In this one, i've used simple english because i didn't really plan it out. This was something i wished i had written for an exam because it means a lot to me but i somehow forgot about it. It happened a few months ago but i've only taken the time to write about it now. I hope it doesn't bore anyone. Enjoy :)
It was almost 6 p.m. when we reached home. My mom and I fetched my brother from work at the mall. I was very tired as I didn’t get much sleep and I was out the whole day. I missed my afternoon nap and I was yearning for some shut eye. I dragged myself up the stairs, into my bedroom and threw myself on my bed. Before I dosed off, I remembered my mom entering my room, switching off the lights and giving me a kiss. I watched my mom exit my room as my heavy eyelids forced me to sleep.
I squinted as bright lights shone in my direction. It took a while for my eyes to adjust and make out where I was. Somehow, I found myself lying on the sofa downstairs. “How did I get here?” I asked myself. I figured I must have walked down half-asleep. I looked around and saw my grandfather, watching some news on the television, and my brother, using his laptop, most probably playing online games. I checked the clock – 10 a.m.
Was I really asleep for that long? I walked to the bathroom to freshen up and start my day. After a breakfast of porridge with anchovies, I went online to check my social updates and download a few shows. My house was weirdly quiet. It has never been that way unless I was home alone. Anyways, I received a text message from a friend asking if I would want to go for a movie. I looked for my mom to ask for permission but I couldn’t find her. Of course, she must have been at the gym. So I waited patiently for her to come home.
3 hours passed and my mom still hasn’t showed up at the doorstep. I was starting to doubt that she went to the gym. I proceeded to ask my brother where she went but all I got in return was a very cold stare, like I had asked a dumb question. I was puzzled. Why wouldn’t he answer me? Maybe he wasn’t in the mood to talk. Maybe he was in the middle of something and I was interrupting him or maybe he just didn’t know. I told myself not to dwell on the way he treated me and instead, ask my grandfather because he should know better.
“Where’s mommy? Did she go out with her friends?” I asked my grandfather. He too gave me a weird look. He looked confused and sad. He never looked that way. What was going on? “I know this has all been very hard for you, but you have to stop pretending that it didn’t happen”, he told me. I was so puzzled. Everyone was being so inscrutable.
“What do you mean? What happened?”
“Do you really want me to tell you? It has been hard for all of us. Why would you want to bring it up again?”
“If I know what you’re talking about, I wouldn’t ask, would I?” I was starting to get impatient. “Okay, if you really want to hear it again, your mom, she’s not coming home anymore. She was driving home from the market. The teenager who ran the red light was drunk. Your mom was an innocent victim in an inevitable incident.”
I was in shock. What was that? Was it all a joke? “It happened so fast. She didn’t see it coming. She couldn’t have avoided it.”
I stood in there like a statue. I didn’t blink, I didn’t breathe, I didn’t move a muscle. I was trying to process what my grandfather had told me. It seemed so fake. Why would someone joke about things like that? It just didn’t make any sense. I refused to accept the lies he was feeding me. My mother was coming home. She was going to walk through that door as alive as ever without a single scratch on her body. She would be unharmed. We would watch our favorite tv shows just like we would on any other afternoon. I would prove my grandfather wrong.
I was feeling so lifeless. I sat at the doorstep, waiting for my mom to pull into the driveway. I waited until dinner. She still didn’t show up. Then, I started to think, “What if my grandfather wasn’t lying?” No. That was just a prank. Everyone was in on it. I would see my mom sooner or later, I was sure of it. I isolated myself, skipped dinner and refused to talk to anyone else, refused to listen to more lies. I knew I would feel better once I see my mom. All I had to do was be patient and wait for my mom to comfort me. Hours passed and still no sign of my mom. I was starting to feel sleepy. I moved closer to the wall behind me, rested my body against it and closed my eyes.
When I woke up, I wondered why I was at the doorstep. Remembering that I was waiting for my mom’s return, I rushed up to her bedroom, hoping to find her on her bed, smiling at me. I hoped to hear her voice telling me it was all just a prank, a test of my patience. But, no. Her bed was empty and made, just the way it was the morning before. I felt crushed from the insides, like my heart stopped beating for a moment. I told myself, “Maybe she was sleeping over at a friend’s house”. At that instant, I figured the best thing to do was to call her cellphone. That would definitely clear everything up. After I dialed her number, the only voice I heard was the operator telling me to leave a message. “Bummer”, I muttered.
I didn’t have the appetite for breakfast. So, I plopped myself down on the sofa and turned on the television. It was the news channel from the last time my grandfather was watching it. Before I switched channels, there was news on a local accident. I watched in horror as the reporter talked about the exact same thing like what my grandfather told me. “No, this can’t be. It is pure coincidence. Most probably another unfortunate accident in the same area”, I thought. Then, right in front of me, displayed through the large LCD screen was a picture of a wrecked car, the exact same car like my mom’s. To my horror, an obituary was displayed with my mother’s face on it. I stared at the television for a few seconds.
No one would ever go that far for a prank. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, as if someone was suffocating me. I wanted to block out whatever the reporter was saying. I couldn’t take it anymore. I took the pillows on the sofa and pressed them hard against my ears. I started screaming from the immense pain I felt. I wanted everything to go away. More than anything, I wanted my mom with me - physically, not in an obituary through a big screen. Before I lost my voice, I felt a pair of hands pulling me up. I was wrapped in my brother’s arms. He turned off the television and took the pillows away from me. “It’s not there anymore. I’m here. Look, I’m here”, he whispered. I looked up at him. I saw the pain in his eyes too. It wasn’t easy for him, for both of us. I felt teardrops trickle down my cheeks. The tears that I’ve been trying to hold back since my grandfather told me about my mom flowed non-stop, like the dam holding my tears just crashed. I hated the way I felt, so vulnerable and weak. I wasn’t ready to move on with life without my mom.
I gasped when I felt my cheeks brushing against a damp surface. I immediately sat up with a startle. My eyes darted around wildly as I was surrounded in darkness. I was on my bed in my dark room. I jumped off my bed and rushed down the stairs. I was pretty sure that my eyes gleamed when I saw her, my mom, sitting at the computer. She looked up at me as I stood on the staircase. I felt so happy and relieved to see her there, smiling. I ran down to hug her as tightly as I could. She was real, in my arms, and nothing else mattered at that moment. I stood there, clutching her in my arms, not wanting to let go. It was the best feeling in the world, having her hug me back. I cried tears of joy realizing that it was just a dream, a nightmare. As she wiped my tears away, I was reassured that she’ll always be there for me.
Mom, you asked, on that very night, what was wrong. So, when you’ve read this, if you’ve read this, here it is. I need you to know that although I don’t really show it, I would never want to lose you.
