by Yume
* * *
Agatha opened her eyes and a beam of moonlight reached her. She sat up and coughed. Water spit out from her mouth. Her clothes were still soaking wet and her hair was tangled. She looked around and examined the surrounding. She was in the forest.
“Agatha?” A voice echoed in the dark. A blurred image appeared from the distance. As it drew closer, Agatha backed away.
“Who’s there?” She asked, frightened.
“There’s nothing to be scared of.” The voice said. It sounded familiar enough. But who could that be? “So I heard. You’ve made a wish.”
“A wish?” Agatha widened her eyes.
“You want to be given a second chance.” The voice continued. “To make your family see something, right?”
“I…”
“Well, here you go.”
All of a sudden, Agatha was standing in front of her house. She turned around instantly to search for that figure in the forest but the place was silent and empty except for her existence.
She took a step forward and bravely knocked on the door. When her mother came to answer the door, she almost laughed at her face.
“Agatha!” She cried doubtfully.
“Mama,” Agatha said in a low voice. “I’m home.”
“But…how…” And then, her mother was alarmed.
Agatha remained speechless. She entered the house despite her mother’s panic. For the whole night, she did not speak, not even when Elisa came down and ask her questions. She took a bath quietly and went back to her room.
For the first time in her life, Agatha understood what it meant for a wound that could never be sutured. It was exactly how she felt that night. Her mother’s coldness and meanness had carved a hole on her heart. Blood was drained out from that tiny vulnerable being. A scar which would never mend was left permanent there, forever reminding her of the incident.
As the light crept into her room, a shadow formed on the ground. As usual, it showed a girl couching timidly under her duvet, groaning sadly.
“But tomorrow, things will not be the same.” Agatha said to herself. She glanced up at the moon and waited for the dawn to come.
Once the morning came, the door opened and her mother peeked in.
“Agatha, are you feeling any better?”
Obviously, this woman felt guilty after introspecting what she had done the previous day. She smiled a grin rarely shown to Agatha.
Agatha nodded.
“Well, I’ve been thinking.” Her mother said. “Perhaps you should take a day off.”
Never had she spoken to her like that. Agatha could remember once being so sick that she could hardly get out of bed. Yet, her mother ignored her pain and illness, insisting that she ought to finish all the tasks of the day. No matter how much she pled, that unfeeling woman had not a single pity.
“Well, Elisa has already gone for school.” Her mother said. “You can rest longer.”
Agatha smiled.
What was she precisely happy about?
Nothing…
Was she pleased that her mother cared for her?
No. It was too late...
So, why did she smile?
She did not know…