Family Short Story – The last glimpse.
Photo credit: mzacha from morguefile.com
“Mumma, please take me with you, mumma please don’t go”
“no, ritu. You’re mamma’s good girl, right? Go home then”.
My seven year old self couldn’t let go of her
with my favorite doll In hand and my whole body falling
In the form of tears, I rushed to catch a last glimpse of her
but she had already left.
10 Years later.
I looked at my reflection In the mirror and then looked at the picture of her that hung on the wall
It was the only thing that reminded me that she existed
same eyes. Same face
you resemble her, they say
I wish I could see It myself
time faded her memories
the clear one I had was of the day she left me
the day I saw my mother for the last time
my grandmother tells me we were a happy family
my parents loved me, the kind of love I haven’t experienced from the past 10 Years of my life
the kind of love I don’t even know exists.
my father died when I turned 6
I don’t remember his face but I know he loved me a lot
I remember the way my mother used to cry while I pretended I was asleep
I remember the way her bright colorful dresses were replaced by dull lifeless clothes
I remember the way the spark of her eyes turned Into tears
I remember the way her smile vanished, only to never appear again
Everyone says she left me for another man
she left me In this nightmare to live her life like a dream
she left me alone
she left me to be called orphan by others
I don’t know why but all the things I heard about her didn’t lessen my love for her
I didn’t start hating her
so what If now, the memories Is all I have of her
I still don’t believe anyone
I know, my mother couldn’t do this
must be some other problem
she loves me
maybe she still does
The only wish I have now, Is to see her face
to know the reason she left
to prove everyone wrong
she must have grown old now
I know, she must be suffering from the same sadness, the same urge to see me
after all am her daughter
I look at her picture and smile
maybe she’s looking at my picture somewhere else and doing the same
3 Years later
I just cannot believe my eyes
Is this for real?
Did I just
did I just see her?
I jump at the realization and search for her
there she was, smiling
with loose skin and wrinkles
she was standing there
yes, they were right
I resemble her
this was the kind of happiness I haven’t ever experienced
I had finally found my mother
eyes could lie
but the way I felt,could’nt
I knew It was her
I could only be her
I start walking towards her and thinking about her reaction
how happy will she be to see me?
I know, much more than I am
will she hug me?
Will she even recognize me?
Of course, after all, you’re her daughter
I say to myself and tap behind her back
“yes” She says
now I know where I got my sweet voice from
I don’t know what made the tears escape from my eyes and the next second
I found myself hugging her
“mummaa” I say
she pulls herself back
she must be shocked think.
She looked at me with astonishment and
yes, I see a smile creeping on her face
“ritu”
“yes mumma,ritu”
“god, you’ve become a big girl”
she says and then hugs me,
I look Into her eyes and
I don’t see the happiness
I don’t see the joy of seeing me
I don’t see love
tears started falling from my eyes and the first thing I did was ask her
why did you go,mumma
she looks at me and then looks down
and before she could answer, a man comes and starts talking to her
our eyes meet and he asks my mother who I was
my mother looks at me, her eyes showing not guilt but embarrassment
she stands there, without saying a word
mamta,who Is she?
the man asks again
“oh, no one, just an old friend’s daughter. Let’s go, It’s getting late.”
She says and then looks at me for the last time before holding the man’s hand and turning around
I stand there for two minutes
shattered,
trying hard to accept what just happened
I see her going away
holding the man’s hand
she turned around for once
or maybe the blurry vision my tears created made me believe so
She Is going far and far
away from me
fading away
I can’t see her anymore
I run the fastest I can
my eyes search for her everywhere
I stop for once and collapse into the ground
crying loud enough for the passerby’s to notice
I look up and there she Is
smiling, sitting In the car
the car starts
I get up and run
I see her car going
I run fast
and before the car leaves my sight, I see her face
I close my eyes to capture It forever
this time, I managed to catch her last glimpse.
__END__
