Before I Go

Epilogue

Present

     I was washing some dishes, looking out the window of our new apartment. My mom was at the stove and I glanced at her, watching as she made pasta for the both of us. Smiling, I thought about how much time we could spend together now that we had moved out of our old house and left my dad behind.

     As I put away the last plate I was washing, I thought about how I spent so many years avoiding my dad and thus my mom, and now I finally got to spend a lot of time with my mom. We had moved to a small apartment after my mom got a job as a secretary. She was being paid pretty well and only after a month since she started working there, my mom got us an apartment and one evening, we left our old home and started a new life.

     "The pasta is ready," my mom said. "Can you set the table please."

     "Of course," I replied.

    I grabbed two plates and two forks, and I set them onto our dining table that was in the middle of the small kitchen. Our place was quite small, but I didn't mind how tiny it was. Moving out from my old home had been the best thing I'd ever done and I had no regrets.

     Sitting down at the table, my mom soon brought over the pot of pasta and set it in the centre of the table. She then sat down across from me and immediately, we scooped pasta onto our plates and dug in.

     "How was your day?" my mom asked, smiling at me.

     "It was good," I said. "My first day at university was nice. I then went to therapy after school and it was a relief to let everything out. I've made so much progress. I remember a year ago during my first therapy session, I spent the entire hour sobbing. It was so hard to open up, but now it's just so easy to let out everything. And... compared to the old me, I'm not so miserable. I'm not perfect, but there's such a huge difference between who I was a year ago and the person I am now."

      My mom's eyes softened. She teared up a bit and my eyes widened.

     "I'm so happy to hear that," my mom said. "I was scared that I broke you permanently with my bad choices. Especially... especially with what happened on your birthday a year ago. But, I'm really glad you feel better now. Leaving was the best thing I've done and I'm so, so happy we escaped."

      "I'm really glad you feel that way," I said, smiling. "Leaving was the best thing for me, too. I feel so much more free."

     It was true. My dad had genuinely been the source of my misery. He was the reason why for so many years, my life had felt like hell. So with him gone, I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I felt so much more free and day-by-day, I was growing happier. I still wasn't completely happy, but I truly wanted to live.

*****

      I rang Shane's doorbell and soon, he opened the door. His black hair was a wavy mess on top of his head and he looked exhausted. But upon seeing me, he grinned.

     "Studying?" I asked.

     "Unfortunately yes," Shane said. "But seeing you is a pleasant surprise."

     I smiled at the sight of Shane. Now that I had moved, it wasn't easy to see Shane. And with the both of us in university, we rarely had time for each other. But, every moment we were free, we made time for each other.

      "Want to go to Crescent Park?" I asked. "Only if you're free now."

     "Mia, I'm always free for you," Shane said, his eyes gentle.