End My Suffering

Chapter One

       "Mother?" Callie called out, her voice echoing through the small house. Her footsteps pattered slowly against the dark oak wood floor of the family room. The house was silent. The only sound she heard was the sound of her heart racing in her chest. She feared where her mother was, or if she had done something to herself while Callie was watering the garden.
     "Mother?" She screamed one more hoping for a response. But yet again getting nothing in return. She headed for the steep wooden stairway as her breaths quickened. Her bare feet slowly pressed down on the cold step, but she continued up very slowly.
      She reached the top of the twelve stairs and she peaked her head around the thick wall that separated the stairway and her mother's bedroom. The door was wide open, and she got an immediate sight of her mother. Her heart broke inside her chest when she saw the heart broken woman, still dressed in her day time clothes, clutching tightly on a photograph of her daughter and son while sleeping. Black rims of mascara surrounded her eyes and her short blonde hair was a tangled mess. Her white, button-down dress was stained in her tears. She laid on her side, her hands taut around the photograph on her stomach. She stirred slightly in her sleep.
        Callie hesitantly walked over to her bedside and shook her shoulder lightly. She didn't want her mother to break down and whale again, but she thought she should be comfortable in her slumber.
      "Mother? You must changed out of this clothes and slip into something more comfortable." Her mother ignored her and flipped on her back. She opened her eyes and stared blankly at the wall for a few moments and then opened her mouth to speak.
     "One year ago this day I lost my angel." Tears were on the verge on springing free, but she blinked them back. Callie's lips were parted, her eyes wide and ready to release tears remembering what happened one year ago this day. She kneeled down next to the bedside, and laid her arms on the white, cotton bedsheets. She tried to speak, but choked on her own words. Memories of the horrid night flooded in her mind.
      She remembered the phone call her mother had gotten. How her expression went from extremely blissful to a total mess. Her, speeding off to the morgue and demanding to see her son. She wouldn't take no for an answer and threatened the workers several times to see her son's corpse at that very moment. Her traumatized look when she saw the bullet wound that went through his heart was unforgettable and Callie is still able to depict it in her mind. Her mother lost it then it the morgue. She screamed at the top of her lungs and keened unconditionally next to her son's body.
     Just before that call, Callie and her mother had just been exchanging stories of fairytales and happy ever afters. They often did just that. While her brother was out with his mates, they would just enjoy the presences of one another, and take advantage of the mother and daughter time. The last time they did that felt like a century ago. Now they rarely spend time together, still too broken down to look each other in the eye. Conversations weren't  long. Her mother would ask simple things like "What should I cook for supper?", or "How was school?". Callie would usually reply with a one word answer. She doesn't know why, but her mother just irritates her when she tries to start a conversation between the two.
     "Everything will be fine, mother. I promise. I love you so much. He loves you so much." That's when Callie's mother pealed her eyes away from the ceiling, and she made eye contact with Callie; her tearful eyes staring at Callie's. She reached for Callie shaking hand, and squeezed it lightly, her other hand still holding tautly onto the image. Her mother was unable to response, so she simpered slightly at her daughter's sympathetic look, earning her a sad smile from Callie.
      Callie stared at her mother deep into her eyes, when suddenly she shifted on her queen sized bed. She let go of Callie's hand momentarily, then patted the empty space next to her, gesturing for Callie to lie next to her. She kicked off her blue pumps and looked back at Callie, waiting for her to join her on her bed. Callie got up, never breaking eye contact, and lied down next to her mother. Her mother turned to her right side away from Callie and placed the image lightly and very warily on the nightstand next to her. She sighed heavily then turned to her back. Callie leaned up and pulled the floral blankets over top of the both of them. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she closed her eyes just as her mother did a few moments ago. Not another word was spoken that night.