AllFreeNovel
Share Us
tell herself. It seemed only just and proper that she
take it all with her to the grave.
"I can barely keep my eyes open," I declared,
Mother and I had been talking for hours.
"Me too," my mother admitted, and we put our
dishes in the dishwasher and both went to bed,
hugging in the hallway first.
"I'm so happy you're here," she whispered. "So
am I. Mother. So am I," I told her.
Up until now the word Mother, the very idea of
having one, had been as mythical as a unicorn for me.
I enjoyed saying it so much. I thought I would mutter
"Mother. Mother. Mother" in my sleep forever. When I finally crawled into bed. I felt like I
was still riding in the car. The visions of oncoming
headlights, rain pounding on the windshield, and
globs of fog twirling before me still lingered on the
insides of my eyelids. Overtired. I tossed and turned
for a while before dropping into what was more a
state of unconsciousness than sleep. Then I awoke to
the sound of those footsteps. I was surprised my ears
had been capable of taking in the sounds in the
hallway and delivering them to my groggy brain. I lifted my head from the pillow and, after
realizing where I was, listened keenly. The steps
sounded more like someone shuffling along in shoes
with sandpaper for soles. I heard the hinges of the
front door squeak like impish tattletales. The whish of
the wind rushed into the house, and then I heard the
door close. I glanced at the illuminated face of the
clock on my nightstand and saw it was nearly 3:30
A.M. Who would be walking about at this hour and
