This story is an older short story of mine I wrote for my creative writing course. We were to be inspired by a painting and I chose "Christin's World" by Andrew Wyth as my piece. Enjoy.
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144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTPtTcLaya
April 11th, 1965
The warm Indiana spring sun kissed my cheeks, as soft long grass caressed my legs. I furrowed my brows as I tried to open my eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut again as I sat up and opened them once more. The sky held only a few puffs of lazy white clouds but was the most mesmerizing blue. Yet, there was a hint of rain in the air. Its smell a comfort, something I seldom felt anymore.
For the first time in years, my bones didn't moan in protest of incoming rain. In fact, I glanced at my smooth arms. Gone were all the sunspots I gained, and no more was my skin paper thin. I felt my face; it was smooth again. I pulled a strand of hair from my bun, not silver but a rich dark brown. However, the clue I was no longer an old woman should have been that my hair was in a bun at all. I haven't worn it this way since I was in my fifties. My old light pink dress suggested I was in my late twenties or early thirties again.
Confused, I stood up. As far as I could see, there was tall green grass that sang its gentle spring hymns. Behind me was our old white farmhouse and faded red barn. Home. I was finally home. A hard lump formed in my throat as tears pricked my eyes. It was not sorrow I felt but comfort I so longed to feel.
I wiped away my tears and began my journey home. Once I was close to the house, our old English sheep dog raised his lazy head from the porch. His hairy tail wagged with happiness and gave me a hello bark.
"Clover!" I opened my arms wide for him.
Clover nearly knocked me off my feet from his kissed. I laughed as I buried my face in his soft fur.
"My sweet boy, I missed you so much! You were my best dog. I've never forgotten you!" I kissed him several times. "I just don't understand... am I dead?" Clover only wagged his tail, not giving me an answer. If this was Heaven, I suppose dogs still couldn't talk.
Before I wrapped my mind around this moment, I could hear a soft harmonica play in the distance. My eyes widened as nostalgia filled my veins. A slower, melancholy version of "Oh Susannah" was carried by the southern breeze. Hypnotized, I walked towards it.
It led me behind the house, Clover following close behind me. A man in his early thirties sat on the old porch rocker. His dark blue overalls were stained with mud, and a light blue shirt I could never forget. Tears fell from my eyes as I listened to "Oh Susannah" for the thousandth time.
The man glanced my way and stopped mid-song, lowering his harmonica. Those dark eyes filled with warmth as a smile shinned.
"Well, I'll be. It's about time you showed up. It's gonna storm soon, and we were thinking you would never show up."
I ran towards him and flung myself into his arms. I couldn't help but sob, all my grief turning into overwhelming relief. My husband stroked my hair, holding me tight against him.
"Hey now, why do you cry, my little firefly?"
I looked up, my gazed blurred with tears. "B-because... I've been so lonely... life is no longer worth living if it's without you."
He hugged me tighter against him, the smell of dirt such a warm comfort. "But I have been here this whole time. I have never left your side."
"Yes, you did!" I bunched my hands into small fists. "You left me all alone. Life is so scary when you're old and alone. Please don't let me go again... I can't do it anymore, Walter..."
Walter said nothing more than he held me tight and rocked in that chair. If this wasn't Heaven, I could not care less, for it was enough for me to be here. I would rather be in my husband's arms for all of eternity than behind those golden gates without him.
"It's gonna storm Norah, a big one too."
"I don't care. Let's stay like this."
"We can't... not right now."
I lifted my head from his chest, my hazel eyes clashing with his dark ones. "You will not leave me again? I won't let you this time!"
"I'm sorry..."
"That's not good enough!"
Walter set a gentle hand against my wet, tear-stained cheek. It felt so cool yet loving too. "You don't have much time, my firefly... your summer is long gone, and autumn has begun. Your light is flickering. Come inside with me. There is someone else here that wants to say goodbye."
"Goodbye?" Terror raced through my heart. "What do you mean goodbye!?"
Sadness clouded Walter's eyes as he glanced beyond me, towards the fields. The clouds were thicker now, with only a few patches of blue sky. It grew warmer too as the scent of fresh rain became almost suffocating.
"I will explain everything once we're inside. Come on, little firefly."
After a moment, I nodded and stood up. Walter guided me towards the porch door. Just as he opened it the door, the wind smacked it out of his hand.
"Hurry! It's coming!"
I went into the house, and Walter followed. Everything was just as it was in the sixties. My kitchen had that awful yellow tile Walter loved so much back then. The kid's all drew sunflowers to hand on the white cabinets, to make it look a little better. Walter's handcrafted wood table was already set. Yet, there were only three spaces set, not four. However, it wasn't until I walked into our living room I gasped. Sitting on our old green couch was my eldest daughter. Not skin and bones, dying of cancer like she was ten years ago, but as she was in her twenties. Hazel eyes glistening with love, and dark curls I wish I had too. Even though the house remained in the sixties, she wore eighties clothing, and makeup to match.
"Hi Mama, I missed you." She smiled and hugged me.
I was left in shock, but after a moment returned her hug. It had been so long since I've heard her voice... felt her warmth. My heart felt so hollow for so long.
"Mama, you're squishing me!" Ellie giggled.
"I'm not letting you go again either!"
"Oh, Mama..." Ellie wiggled out of my arms and held my hands. "You never let me go. I was never far away, not from your heart."
"Wait, where is Bea?" I looked around for my youngest daughter. Yet, she was nowhere to be found.
"Not time for her yet," Walter said.
"So... I'm dead..."
"Not quite Mama," Ellie said.
"You mean I have to go back!?" I looked at Walter with terror in my eyes. "Don't let me go back there, not without the two of you!"
"You never really left," Walter said.
"What..."
"Look Mama! Look at those clouds!"
Although Ellie's eyes held excitement, I gasped with horror. Barreling our way was sickening black-green clouds. The wind roared like a freight train.
"We have to get to the cellar!" I cried.
"Wait." Walter set a gentle hand on my shoulder.
"No! Look at that funnel! There's a tornado coming!"
"Not yet, Mama, but can't we say goodbye first?"
"I'm not leaving you!" I grit my teeth with stubbornness. I will not be left alone again.
Walter shook his head with sadness. "Ellie, kiss your mother goodbye... then I will tell her everything."
Rain pounded on the roof as thunder bellowed its unwelcomed greeting.
Ellie gave a sad nod and kissed my cheek. "Goodbye Mama, I'm sorry I died... and that you had to watch them bury me." We both sniffled, and Ellie's shoulders quivered. "I'm sorry you felt so alone, but believe me when I say we were here. Right here this whole time." I pulled my little girl close to me again as we cried the last of our tears in each other's embrace.
The storm raged outside, rain pounding as if to say to hurry along. A roar shook the house, its floorboards vibrated from the wind.
"It's time to let go," whispered Walter.
"I don't want to!" I looked into Ellie's eyes and shook my head. "I will never let go of you again."
Ellie gave me a brave smile and touched my cheek. "It's okay. Let me go for now. I will wait for you, for real this time, on the other side. I love you, Mama." She gave me another kiss before stepping away.
"Ellie, please don't go! I love you too much to let you go!" I called.
My eldest daughter turned back at the doorway and gave me a gentle smile. "I hope you will be my mother again, in the next life."
Before I could call her back, the lights flickered before going out. However, in the final flicker, Ellie was gone... and I knew in my heart she was gone for good. The storm howled and raved outside. Fear wrapping its ugly hands around my neck, choking the life out of me.
"Norah?" I heard Walter's footsteps as he drew me into his embrace once more.
"What's happening? I'm so scared... so scared..." My heart thumped like an Indian drum in my ear.
"You're forgetting things, my little firefly. Your light is going out. You're not dead, but inside your own decaying mind. It's gonna get tough, and I'm sorry."
I pressed my lips together and squeezed my eyes shut. "I'm going to be all alone?"
Walter did not answer me but gave me one last kiss. Behind him, I saw a black evil funnel, loud like a freight train. The windows blew out as the house shook. Everything I loved was being destroyed before my tired eyes.
"We will meet again at the end of this life," came Walter's voice.
Something smacked the back of my head, knocking me into a pit of never-ending darkness.
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August 9th, 2022
Summer was ending, yet the sun was high in the sky, filled with warmth. Bea listened as the robins sang in the trees as she walked into her mother's nursing home. It was a beautiful Indiana summer morning, with some of the bluest skies she had seen this year. Bea greeted the staff as she walked towards her mother's room.
"Mom, it's me, Bea!" she called.
Although her mother's Alzheimer's was beyond her forgetting her keys, her face always lit up when Bea came in. Yet, this morning, there was nothing. Bea's lips pressed together as she walked towards her mother's bedside. Those hazel eyes glazed over with a fog of confusion as she stared at the wall.
"Mom... Mama... it's me, Bea. Don't you remember me?"
There was not a hint of light in her mother's eyes. It was as if no one was home.
"Oh, Mama..." Bea tried to keep her tears at bay. However, her heart betrayed her. Bea hugged her mother, wishing there was comfort there. "I don't want to be the last one left... I don't want to be all alone."
Although her mother's heart still beat, Bea knew her mother was long gone. All that was left of her was an empty shell, a fragment of what she once was.
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