Emerald: A Compilation Of Short Stories

Renata

Silence ran out of the room as the screaming alarm clock had awoken me up from my sleep. I wanted to sleep a little more, but it was Christmas and I needed to get going. My feet almost floated on the floor and I walked over to the framed portrait of four recent women in my family that I adore. A small drop of water came out of my eye and slide down my face when I looked at the picture of my mother. The holiday season was always tough for me. Living in an entirely different country, away from my family, is depressing for me on holidays because of the homesickness.

As the tear fell down my face, I felt soft arms wrap around me. As the faint, "Não chore, minha princesa," entered my ear, I immediately realized it was my mother and my heart began to pump blood throughout my body at a slower pace. I let my head rest on her shoulder and let my arms embrace her presence. To a stranger, it would look like I was hugging the air, but to my mother and I, it was one of the most comforting hugs I had ever experienced from her. After three minutes of warm hugging, I let go and tiptoed towards the bathroom, where I cautiously closed the door behind me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the clock in the dining room quickly ticked to 3 till 10, I steadily balanced myself in my heels on every step. My stomach growled like a wild predator finding a foe. My body works in mysterious ways; when I'm thinking of something/someone I hate, my stomach growls and my eyes rapidly scan the environment while my blood boils into my neck.

I stepped down from the last step of the stairs and walked towards the dining table. As expected, the rest of my family was chatting and sitting there patiently. As I got to my seat, I heard my mother's voice quietly drift into my brain. It was time for the annual monologue:

"So as you guys may know, this is a very depressing time for me because of the vast pain from being homesick. And with everything that's going on in the family, I just wanted to say that even though I'm in a mellow mood, I become happy because of how you guys are handling this. You guys are keeping your heads high and your shoulders lifted." I pointed to my children. "Your grandmother is very proud of you two for being courageous and happy, even if you get a tear or two from all of this stress." My son laughed in embarrassment. "Don't be embarrassed. We all have times like these. Do you guys know about emeralds?" I asked. My son responded saying that it was a bright-green stone. As that was true, I told them that there was a deeper meaning to that, "You know it's not just a green stone. It's a symbol of unity and of embrace."

I noticed that my son's eyes widened in shock. I didn't think much of it, though.

"Just remember that." I ended. After that, we began to feast and talk about bringing my sister to America, to try to tape the emerald back together.