Mother

       “No! She’s not my mom!” I pushed the woman away in front of my friends. I ran home quickly without even glanced back. In my heart no one could ever replace my mom.
       When I was only four, my mom had fallen sick. She coughed badly and she couldn’t even stand straight for a moment. She was as pale as white paper, but she still insisted not to go to a doctor. Life was critical at the time.
      We live in a small “atap” house far away from a city and my dad worked as a fisherman. Four of us included my younger brother had to squeeze into a small room. My mom couldn’t afford to go to any doctor and she got worse each day. A week went on and my mom started to cough out blood. The next day, my mom was covered by a white cloth and was taken away.
       One whole week my dad left us and brought us to stay with our grandma’s house. Later, we were brought home, but surprisingly we saw a woman and another young girl in our house.
      “Faster approach your mom and sis,” my dad urged me to approach them and greet them.
      I stared at my dad with fear and anger.
      “No!” I ran and brought along my little brother with me into our room. We hid in a corner and we never want any step mother or step sister.
      “I’m sorry,dear”
      I heard my dad said to the unknown woman.
      “It’s alright. They need some time to accept it.” I heard a soft replied from the woman.
      Years past by and I still didn’t call her as my mom. I didn’t greet her or smile to her. When I was studying in my primary school, my mom would come and take our report card but I never admit she was my mom and I would push her away.
      She treated us with love but still I never accept her because for me, my late mom was irreplaceable.  One day, I hang my late mom’s photo in my living room to show my objection. I thought she will go crazy and shouted at me but she didn’t. Instead I saw her helping me wipe my late mom’s photo a few times.
      “Don’t touch my mom!” I shouted an afternoon when she was wiping the photo.
      “Oh, I’m sorry, dear.” She looked puzzled and worried at the same time. She still didn’t understand why I couldn’t accept both of them, her and her daughter as one of the family members.
      I stared at her just like I was going to eat her up.
      “Say sorry to your mom, now!” Suddenly, my dad appeared of nowhere and commanded at me. I turned and started crying. I hid myself in a corner but I heard my dad was quarrelling with her.
      My dad told her that his late wife's photo shouldn’t be hung and it should be taken down but she still stood on my side and said it was because I missed my mom so much.
      From that onwards, I felt that she was not as bad as I thought and I slower accepted her by not being rude to her as I was before.
      One afternoon, I was playing near the river. Suddenly a car came, speeding and banged me. The driver didn’t stop but he drove away. I was blacked out, so I didn’t know what had happened.
      “You’re awake at last. You should thank to your mom. She sent you just on time and you’re safe.”
      For the first time, I cried in front of my mom. After that, my mom carried me home by her back just like how she carried me to the hospital. We didn’t have car, so she walked all the way. I knew she was tired but she never say a word, all she did was smiling at me.
       A month later, our step sister was seventeenth. She was sent away far from home to marry.
       “At last my little princess find a good man to live with.” My mom cried while looking at the train went further. We knew she sent away her daughter so that both of us could live a better life, she was consoling herself.
       My tears trickled down my face and my sight was blurred by my tears.
       “Mom…”  
Ten years of ignorance and rudeness towards her, at last, I approached her and I admitted her as my mom.
       She looked at me, first with shocked but she was overwhelmed by it and we hugged each other. Ten years of waiting, just for this moment. She hugged me tight and we held each other hand and together we walked home.


LER
8.11.08
2.16 pm