Saturday, January 23, 2010

Writing prompt

The last time I saw my mother was fifteen years ago.


The last time I saw my mother was fifteen years ago. I was five years old and I was wearing a beautiful yellow sundress. The dress was supposed to be for church and special occasions and there were no exceptions. There were no exceptions to a lot of rules at my house. This never stopped me from asking.
That morning I asked my mother if I could wear the beautiful dress. I liked to wear it and pretend I was the sun and could make the flowers in the garden grow. She had agreed without a glance.
If I hadn't been so overjoyed I might have noticed this was a sign that something was very wrong.
She made my breakfast of oatmeal with walnuts and brown sugar in a hurry and shushed me whenever I spoke. Then she locked herself in her bedroom.
I spent the day daydreaming and entertaining myself. I used her absence as an excuse to eat cookies and other treats that I may have been discouraged from eating had my mother been present. I only started to miss her when dusk started to settle. Being five and having an active imagination darkness was not always a welcome visitor.
I was about to investigate what had kept her busy all day when I heard a knock at the door.
It was the police. They said they had received an anonymous phone call telling them that I was here alone and to please take care of me. I told them they were wrong. That my mother was in the bedroom, but as I said it I knew it wasn't true. that was the worst day of my life. That was fifteen years ago today.
This morning she was standing at my door.

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