I sat on one of the brocade-colored sofas, by my mother's side. My relationship with my mother was nothing to write home about. Even though I looked just like my mother, our characters were quite opposite. I had her brown hair and her cute black eyes. I also inherited the brightly colored pink, and thin lips from her, her youthful and rosy cheek was also evident on my face. Some people suggested that if I got older, I would be the same height as she was. And definitely, as curvy as she was. In literal terms, I was a younger copy of my mother. The only thing I Inherited from my father was his temperament. I was as beautiful as my mother and as cool-headed as my father. My mother, unlike my father, who made a joke out of everything, got irritated even by what others thought was funny. She nagged at my father and despised spending time with him. If my father were home, I would be with him In the garden or his bedroom. But my father was out of town on an emergency business trip. And my
For the rest of the night, I couldn't sleep. I was up, trying to figure out the riddle. Whatever was going on, had claimed the lives of my sisters. I needed to think of a way out, or in three weeks, I would be dead too. Three weeks! It hit me. I would be nineteen in three weeks. I stared blankly into space, but no solution was forthcoming. Slowly, I reiterated the riddle, but it refused to make any sense to me. I grunted. Maybe I would have been able to think straight if it had not been for the bitter thoughts that kept on through my mind."I wish I could tell dad." I sobbed. I was left on my own, to figure out a riddle, of something that I knew nothing about. Although I knew he might be able to help, I was mad at my father too. "He isn't who I think he is. He was supposed to be my best friend. How could he keep something like this from me ?"The following morning, I was up by seven a.m. subconsciously, the first thing that came to my mind was the happenings of the previous day.I tr
The drive from his school to my house took me half an hour, as the traffic had gotten busier. It was always so within the hours of eight am to ten am. I packed in the garage after I got home, and rang the doorbell. When no one answered, I turned the knob to the aging door, and walked in. "Mom?" No answer came."Mommy?" I mimicked the child-like manner that I had used to call her when I was much younger. Yet, there was no answer, so I headed straight to the basement. My intention for calling my mother wasn't to announce my return but to make sure the coast was clear.I threaded down to the basement, an underground structure that my brother and I had stumbled on a few years ago when we were playing hide and seek. He had insisted that it was haunted. He pleaded with me that I should stay away from it, but not being a believer in ghosts, I ignored him. I went behind his back and attempted to break into it, but it was securely locked. I made countless attempts to break Into it, but when n
The room was bleak, cold, and completely dark. Cobwebs lingered in every which way, and antique furniture layered with dust sat perfectly arranged in the room. Cautiously, I walked farther in.The only sound I could hear was myself breathing. I wasn't so sure I still wanted to go on, but I had to. The witch girl had said it was a matter of life and death. ", you can do this." I reminded myself. Once inside the room, I became aware of how dark it was. I knew there would be a light switch in there somewhere, I just needed to find where it was. Slowly, I placed my hand on the wall, looking for it. I ran my hand through the wall, moving from top to bottom, then adjusting my standing position and searching again. I had spent fifteen minutes doing that when I realized that I was wasting my time. I turned my flashlight on, I had completely forgotten that I had my phone with me. The bright light scared the darkness away. Not too far from where I stood, I could see the light switch and was de
I slept off earlier than I had planned to, I had mulled until I fell asleep. I presumed what my life would look like if my sisters were still alive, I visualized how it would be for me if I wasn't able to break the curse. The disappointment that would be on Annabel's face, the trust they all had for me would flop. I sighed. I knew time was ticking, but I didn't know what to do. My mind was blank. I lay on my bed, while my thoughts traveled to the future and the past until I had answered the call of nature.The following day, I was woken up by Kain. He had come knocking on my door, he wanted to let me know that dad would be back in a few hours. "Kerah..."He pushed the door open, and without waiting for my response, I answered subconsciously. I was sleep-talking. "yes?" Then he stormed into my room. I sat up, everything still seemed blurry to me, I rubbed my eyes with my right hand. "Kerah, guess who called, that he would be coming home today?"I stared blankly. I had never been good w
He stood at the entrance of my bedroom, he was frozen on the spot. I knew he didn't expect this from his favorite child who hadn't seen him in months, but neither did I expect him to be so cool with the fact that I had a few weeks to live. He left without uttering a word, and I didn't care. I watched tears drop from his eyes, and then he walked out of my bedroom, with his shoulders sagging. I sighed after he left, and lay on my back. My face towards the ceiling, I was pondering on Anabel's last words. "Let go?"I repeated the word over and over again, to serve as a diversion towards what had just happened, and with the hope that I was eventually going to read some meaning into it.I took a stroll that evening, I walked around the backyard aimlessly, before I decided to go outside to the street for a long walk. I didn't want to meet anyone, but I was desperately in need of clearing my head.So, I headed out, wearing red bummy pants, and a white singlet. It was hot, maybe not as hot as I
My father had struggled to explain why he had said it would be our last picnic, and he had eventually sent me out of his bedroom. "I will explain what I meant during the picnic, baby." He motioned for me to leave. "I have to plan for it now, go on to your bedroom princess, I will send for you when I need you." I couldn't be more grateful. I felt a heavy weight off my chest. I had forgiven him. All I had to do was to forgive my mother, and I would be ready to move on to the next task, or challenge. I was also happy that I was out of his sight. I put my hand in the pocket of my bunny pants and brought out a little photo album, it looked like it was a pocket album anyways. I had stolen it from his study desk when I heard him coming, it was the only thing I hadn't looked at, I needed to know what was inside of it.Settling down on the porch, I began to gaze at the pictures. There were all pictures of my sisters and e when I was younger, one of which my brother had been part of.I took so
My father and I strolled down the bustling street. We could see people headed to the beach, which was a few feet away from our house. "You know, Kay, I'm beginning to wish we had gone to the beach instead." my father gasped in exhaustion. We had been walking for twenty minutes, and we still needed to walk for another twenty minutes before getting to the park. Hawkers roamed on the walkway, and cars zoomed past us, it was a busy Thursday afternoon, and everyone was busy going about their daily affairs. "yeah daddy," I added. "I'm already tired of walking. We should have used your car, especially because this sun is scorching hot and painful." We arrived at the park by noon, and I helped my father set up the little picnic. The main aim of the picnic was for us to hang out and talk. We came with a cooler containing cold drinks, plastic plates, spoons, some crackers, and lunch that I had packed.I spread the sky-blue material that I had come with, under a natural shed provided by a mango