Wednesday 10 July 2013

Rejuvenate & Rejoice

Rewrote this essay for writing class :) and edited the ending . Kinda like the new ending . Hope you guys like it too !!!





The wind.
It came like spears, prickling her soul. The blanket was being too thin, it might be. As the maid saw her Madame twitching in shiver, she darted towards the other chamber to take another thick woollen blanket.

Lauren tried to inhale a great sum of air;- hoping the pain in her chest could be eased. Ah  She knew, her maid's endeavour would end in vain . Though she had added two ... no ... no ... three ... no ... it would still be insufficient. Lauren sighed and coughed again. She could feel a sharp pain in her chest ; like being submerged in water , deprived of oxygen. Her head was heavy and so was her eyes but she could not close them. Not yet.

Lauren rubbed the empty space beside her and it felt cold, like the room temperature, indicating her daughter was not there before. Curiosity began to subjugate her brain. Where was her daughter?

"Mummy. Dinner is ready."

She sighed as she realized there was a tiny hand pulling her left hand. What should she answer? She had no energy to eat and consume the food. All she could do was lying carelessly on the mattress, accompanied by a surfeit of queasy sensation patrolling by her uvular. But ... of course.

"You have last staged cancer."

The doctor's voice was still reverberated in her eardrums. She suffered bone cancer but she refused to be warded. Lauren knew that she would have to go sooner or later. She did not have much time left for her daughter , Aya .

Aya ...
Six years old Aya knew nothing . She was still young and gullible . Two weeks after she was born, her father died in a tragic car crash. Thinking about Aya's future, without no one to look after her , Lauren could not stop the tears from streaming down her cold and pallid cheek. Loving Aya was the greatest feeling she had ever had. However, she had to leave her daughter soon.

"Mummy . The dinner is ready." Her brain snapped into focus as Aya kept on repeating the statement for a few times while clasping her mother's wiry arm.

Lauren tried to curl her lips upward in a semblance of a smile , coughing really hard and only managed to nod consecutively. Aya looked satisfied by the nods and she replied with an angelic smile.
Kissing her mother's forehead , Aya's twinkling eyes then nailed to Lauren's mien before she dashed towards the door.
Lauren exhaled a long-deep heavy sigh.

The unforgiving winds wailed proudly as they struck despair down to her very core. Her time has came. She could not bear the pain any longer. Another gentle breeze caressed her skin and ruffled her messy hair. Her dull weak hand reached for her chest , trying to sooth the pain . The agony was killing her ;- as if the bones were slowly shattered into pieces.

"I have been waiting for you and you are still sleeping?" Her ears caught Aya's voice, startling her.

Lauren could detect that Aya was approaching her and climbed onto the bed as the bed made a squeaky sound. Aya crawled towards her mother, sat huddled and stroked Lauren's hair gently . Lauren's hair used to be in brunette and all shiny but it was quite dull lately. Curling up small beside Lauren, Aya rested her head against her mother while kissing Lauren's shoulder repeatedly. Maybe Mummy was tired. Very tired.

"Darling." Lauren called her daughter hoarsely.
"I will be sleeping for another thousand years." She uttered with an abated breathe. "Take..care...of yourself."

Aya twitched her eyebrow in bewilderment.

Suddenly , her already wide eyes flipped open broadly and the small mouth asked in wonder , "But it was a long time , Mummy. What should I do to wake you up ?" Lauren rendered speechless upon hearing the unanswered question.

Aya wrapped her hands around Lauren's arm tightly while her eyes were still transfixed to her mother. She did not care. She would still wait until another thousand years as long as they would eventually have dinner together. They would have their pasta and laughed again . Like before.


"I love you .You love me 
We're a happy family 
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you. 
Won't you say you love me too"


Tears swam in Lauren's eyes as Aya sang her favourite rhymes. Aya caressed her mother's wrinkled eyes before kissing them. She yawned and she could feel her eyelids were heavy. She would love to sleep but she was afraid . What if Mummy wakes up and needs her help ? She yawned once again and finally closed her eyes while tightened her hug.


Lauren gasped as another sharp pain hit her , the pain of her soul being taken. But no tears were coming out. Yes . She was ready to leave Aya.  Lauren inhaled the air , inhaled the smell of Aya's hair , and managed a smile .



Two hours later ...

"Mummy , wake up. Why are you so cold ?" Shaking her mother's arm for a few times, Aya uttered the question in panic. There was no reply however.

Her mother was lying breathlessly on the bed, not moving or even coughing . What had happened ?!

Aya jumped out of the bed and ran towards the maid's room. Pulling the maid's hand , she murmured , nearly cried ,"Mummy is cold. Put more blanket on her. Quick! "

The maid approached her Madame and leaned forward to check the pulse.

"Mummy is not cold , sweetie . She's only tired and needs some sleep. " Aya winced and exclaimed that her mother have to wake up no matter what. Lauren hadn't had her dinner yet . She would starve.
Nevertheless, the maid would only shook her head while trying to plaster a smile . She tried not to cry in front of Aya but it was really hard .

All of sudden , Aya sprinted towards the table beside her mother's bed and grabbed her mother's purse  and the car key. She immediately handed it to the maid.

"Quick . We must find a really BIIIIG alarm clock to wake Mummy up."

Tears were eventually coming out from the maid's eyes and she sobbed real hard, trying to stop them . Seeing Aya's big twinkling aqua eyes pleading to her , made her to torn between telling the truth and making wild flying lies. She held the innocent little child in her arms and muttered weakly under her breathe ,

"Mummy will wake up, dear. I promise you.”

Aya nailed her eyes onto her maid’s face, eyebrows twitched and mouth pouted , disappointed by the answer :- it was not what she expected. She needed the clock! Not a promise. Mummy must be very hungry. 
Her insisting gaze sent shivers of guilty into the maid’s spine.

Can we buy the alarm clock tomorrow? The shopkeepers out there must be very sleepy. It’s already midnight, darling.” And she eventually nodded in frustration.

Aya could not sleep in peace, of course – thinking about Mummy would turn the night into a very long night.
She finally fell asleep while hoping that tomorrow would bring her good news.



She tried to open her eyes. But the unrelenting light was unbearable. Aya forced her eyes open though she felt like there were heavy stones on her eyelids. The rocking motion that carried her made her eyes immediately flipped open in curiosity. Where was she ?

Aya blinked her eyes for a few times, trying to comprehend the situation around her. Cold sprouted her body and her teeth gritted as she heard the ‘swoosh and swish’ of the rain. 
The maid was embracing her yet the warm gesture could not ease her worry. She ran her eyes around her only to see men and women in black, carrying umbrella in their hands. They looked sad. Some were even sobbing and Aya was pretty sure she saw a familiar old lady in a black cape and that lady was wailing real hard.


“Where are we?” the question was finally laboured from her mouth.

“At the cemetery.” Her maid replied in a forced gusto.

What is cemetery ? Curiosity bubbled inside her, she asked another question. "Why we're here?"

Mummy was going to somewhere really far. A better place: - she could watch Aya better from there. She could smile and laugh again if she goes there. “That is why we are here ; to send her.” The maid had told her and she explained more, “So you cannot cry or Mummy will not be happy again.”


Aya nodded repeatedly. Her mind considered the request. Crying was the only solution she could think of but in the meantime, she wanted Mummy to be happy again. It was okay not to cry. She knew she could do it.


With lump in her throat, Aya caressed her cold nose bridge, trying to stop the tears from coming out.
‘Please tears. For once. Please do not come out. Mummy has to be happy. She's sad enough lately.’ She whispered slowly, encouraging herself.


For the first time , Aya did not cry watching her Mummy going; unlike before when her Mummy left for outstation. 
In fact, she smiled. “Mummy, I hope you will be happy.”



But it was 12 years ago . . . When she knew nothing about death. Now she is mature enough to understand the life. 
Sometimes, she would wonder, why her Mummy had to go so early but then, a letter from Mummy for her 18th birthday explained everything. She did not need another answer.


“The dying should be rejuvenated
and the living should be rejoiced
and continue the life
as He had planned everything.”



True. He had planned everything.
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2 comments:

  1. (Y) i always cry when i see little kids at the cemetery. they know nothing of death.

    ReplyDelete