In My Mother's Time

by Guiliana Napisa

  In My Mother’s Time

  In My Mother’s Time

  Written by, Gigi Fristachi

  Chapter one

  In my mother’s time there were amenities, I remember those days though I was very young. Now that my mother has passed away from a broken heart, I am alone. I can recount to you like a preacher reports a sermon what happened the day the earth fell into disarray.

  I remember the sound of the rain beating down on our tiny bungalow. I played on the floor as my mother paced the front entrance awaiting my father’s return. She was in shambles though she stopped every few moments to look at me with furrowed brows, and smear a false grin across her frazzled face. I know not of other’s version of the end of times, all I know is mine was crashing waves lightning strikes and huge swirling vortexes.

  Water poured under the door rushing with a furious anger nearly sweeping through the house. My mother scooped me up with quick thinking skillful hands. I watched the water wash out my street as my mother ran, with me in tow, down the street to a neighbor’s house.

  My mother’s quick thinking saved our lives for sure. She raided an open garage for gasoline and threw me into a neighbor’s boat. I remember thinking it looked like an alligator hunter’s boat in the bayou. Thin metal with a powerful engine, and shaped like a snow shovel.

  She pushed it toward the river at the end of our suburbs with ungodly brute strength. My mother was an extremely meek and tiny woman who would never have known a rough hand if it had not been for all the house work she did.

  The skies were deep black with swirling grey clouds huge and fluffy. The moon was my most memorable sight; it was full and illuminated as if someone had flipped a switch. My mother was sobbing nearly in hysterics

  as she ran out of energy, but she refused to be consumed by the impending doom beating down her back nipping at her ankles.

  The rain stung my face as the winds raged. I remember her falling on her face when the boat slammed into the raging river current. I almost lost her to Gabriel then and there if she had not inhumanly leaped and grabbed the edge of the boat. I sat staring at the woman whom gave me life with fear and love.

  She took one look at me and with teeth clenched like an animal grinning in the moonlight she pushed her tiny stunted body up and over the side of the boat. She hugged me with such fervor and deep into her green eyes she issued her thoughts on survival of the fittest. Her strength and determination was

  more than enough to get us through the apocalypse.

  When she let go of my tiny body she scanned the waters and ripped the chord to the engine back with all her might. The engine smoked and screamed she could see the funnel coming for us; it was one thing after another. She released the throttle and steered us up river inland.

  I remember the trees bending and contorting as if in immense pain some even cracking and groaning from the weight of their own stumps. I was too young to be horrified but now the images torment me in my sleep even after all these years, even though I am safe.

  My mother recognized the area around where my father worked. He was a mechanic. Always dirty and hardworking nothing ever stopped him from making money for us not the weather, not illness, nothing. He was a man’s man, bad tempered, passionate. The type of man that dads usually are. Pain in the ass to my mom, but she couldn’t find one good reason why she should live without him. Mother floated anxiously over to the now covered building my father worked.

  There was no sign of human life whatsoever and the waters were raging higher and higher with every passing moment. My mother stood up anxiously clutching her sweater together and looked in every direction as if in total panic, I don’t think she thought this threw past getting to papa.

  There was no sign of him and we were beyond cold shivering to the point of visible breath and decidedly loud chattering teeth the kind that makes your jaw ache.

  “PAPA!” she bellowed. She was tiny but when she needed to sound came from within her deep and primal

  There was no answer.

  My mother released the snaps on the baby harness she was wearing and wrapped my baby brother in her soaking sweater leaving her drenched and underdressed.

  She wore my brother all day long while she cleaned the house it is probably the reason why she never got fat like other mothers. She couldn’t keep weight on with all of us giving her so much work to keep up with. She was

  never angry at her life, or regretted having us. She enjoyed it, though she did get flustered at times.

  She slumped to the bottom of the boat almost seeming as if she had given up. She hadn’t. She looked up eyes wide with thought. She was remembering a conversation her and my father had had one night in jest about where she should go if we got separated in an epic life shattering catastrophe. I’d say this was epic enough of a catastrophe. I think she did too.

  We were to follow the river and high tail it west toward West Virginia. She wiped the tears from her nose and drove the tiny vessel toward our destination her hair blowing in the wind witlessly. Her cheeks were red from the cold and burning winds. My eyes became too heavy to watch her

  much longer. We all must have known this was critical times because all three of us were silent and bewildered.

  Chapter two

  We slept as she dredged on the hero of our lives. Words could never describe the thankfulness for just being a mother let alone our rescuer. I don’t know what made her think he was alive or why she thought he would be somewhere inland. We made it as far as the river would allow and I guess we were too exhausted and too much for her, because I awoke under the boat

  next to a fire embraced by my mother’s arms; though they were small, they were big enough to hold all of us.

  My baby brother was breast feeding as he always was. She looked like she was smiling in her sleep just a thin partly curved lift as the fire danced brightly colored lights around her soft features. I fell asleep with my tiny finger tips touching her cheek.

  I woke again later that day, to my surprise though chilly the sun was out and birds were singing to us, maybe wishing us good morrow. I crawled out from under the over turned boat. How had she done that on her own? I looked around until I caught glimpse of her, her hair messily blowing around her face.

  She was standing looking into the distance. I worriedly rushed to her side

  and slipped my hand into hers. She caressed my little hand with her fingers as she looked down at me with a soft smile reassuring me of our safety. As long as I was with her I knew I would be fine.

  “Mommy” I asked, “where is daddy?”

  She squinted toward the vast open country side.

  “I don’t know my baby.” She said softly.

  Worry ran across her face like vermin to spoiling food and she could not hide it. I watched a tear spill from the corner of her eyes she looked down to me her face burning red.

  “Don’t you worry my baby, your daddy will do his best to find us.” She whispered tears running silently down her face following the fine lines and

  creases time left behind. She was beautiful but that didn’t mean anything anymore. Now she was just a woman alone in the wilderness with the future of mankind under her tremendous wing. Hope was not lost, but, what was living without the man that produced happiness for her.

  I could feel heartache bursting from her normally even tempered energy. It was thick and black like poisonous oil suffocating fish and birds trapped in its gooey fingers.

  We spent weeks in that spot, she built us a make shift shack out of large branches and mud. We survived on whatever she could trap or amass from the surrounding area, somehow managing to make it taste like home.

  One afternoon she looked at me intently, “We have to go back and get supplies or
we will be in trouble.” She said.

  “Do not be afraid I won’t let anything happen to you.” She smiled.

  “Mommy will it be like before?” I asked confused.

  “No baby, it is more calm” she continued, “though it won’t look anything like home.”

  “Mommy” I asked quietly, “do you think daddy is dead?”

  “I don’t know baby.” She said almost in a whisper.

  We finished our night the same way we always had. Mom told us stories that had underlying morals that eluded

  us until we were older and goodnight songs.

  In the early morning my mother woke me up. While we were sleeping all night long my mother had carried that boat to the water. She carried all of us to the boat then she picked the baby up and sat him in the boat. Next she lifted me up and stuck me next to him.

  “When we get there I may have to swim under water.” She said not looking at me.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “To find things we may need” She continued, “you will sit with the baby and keep safe I’ll tie myself to this rope and you will yank on it if you see or hear anything.”

  “Ok mommy” I said.

  I was afraid to go back or to be alone in the boat but I didn’t tell her. I was worried it would disappoint her. Coming into the first area there was massive flooding still. We floated over to a roof top and my mother anchored the boat to the roof. She climbed onto the roof and turned back to me.

  “Stay here I’ll be right back do not move” she said.

  I watched her rush over to a brown square and lift the hatch I wasn’t sure but it looked like a tiny door. She peeked her head in for more than a moment I guess her eyes had to adjust. She came rushing over to me excitement all over her lips and eyes.

  “It’s dry inside baby” she continued, “it’s a miracle everything we could

  possibly need is down there!” she tried to whisper. She was shaking her adrenaline pumping. My mother carefully pulled the baby out of the boat and placed him on the roof she pulled me out and sat me next to him.

  “I want you to lay here next to your brother, be unseen my love” she said.

  She hurriedly pulled our boat up onto the roof, and did her best to make it and us unseen to possible passers-by. My mother then tied the rope to a pipe and the other end to a chimney vent lowering the pipe down for stability. She lowered herself into the store and slowly slid down the rope.

  She came back a few minutes later with a blow up raft a bicycle pump some batteries and a large flash light. She assembled the flashlight and pumped the boat tying it to our boat.

  She quickly shimmied back down the rope like some modern day ninja.

  My mother rigged up a basket and rope pulley system and with tremendous speed she brought up blankets, pots and pans, dishes, silverware, clothes, shoes and socks, and finally water and mason jars. She also brought up a little cooker that had a blue bottle attached to it.

  She piled bottled water and canned food onto the raft and went back for a second raft and more materials. This time coming up with a shot gun and a bow and arrows, along with miscellaneous hygiene and medical supplies, hunting canopies and fire starter logs. She brought me up a few toys and some baby musical instruments for the baby.

  For weeks we went back to this place and collected things that we did and did not need. My mother called the stuff we did not need just in case stuff. Of course she also wanted us to be comfortable in the post apocalypse.

  Chapter three

  Eventually my mother found a wooden and metal trailer that was floating along the street that was now a canal. It had four tires holding it up when she found it. Naturally she came up with the idea of putting more under it to keep it afloat with heavy cargo on it, such as wood, dry wall, and insulation.

  For months and months maybe even years she would get up early in the morning and float around collecting anything that could be of use. She collected from hospitals she had a huge collection of saline and something called penicillin g.

  She had a hospital bed as many boxes of gloves as she could carry and stitches. My mother became hoarder meets O.C.D. everything neatly packed and put away where it could be easily identified and reached in case of emergency.

  During our daily travels through the surrounding wilderness my mother and I stumbled upon a creek no bigger than six feet across. The creek was a channel from the nearby river we had traveled up during the flood. I loved going to the river and was surprised to

  find that the creek had the very same smooth quartz rocks as the river. These nearly flawless polished stones were the reason I adored the river.

  One day while walking down the creek the sun was shining through the thick wood like thin streaks of light stretching toward us changing the green hues to a lighter more vibrant color. The mood was cheerful and we had forgotten just for a moment that Dad had been gone for at least three years. We had forgotten that showers were so refreshing and that children once played hopscotch on black top roads in quiet cul-de-sacs.

  The warm air surrounded us in a comfy thickness not too hot not too cold. A soft cool sprinkle of rain began and I remember how beautiful the rainbow colors in the water from the shinning

  sun was to me. The drops were soft but thick and the circles in the water made a visible song of heavenly delight. Clean pure crisp water was so great it made me feel grace.

  Drenched we decided to find a place to sit and make a fire to dry off with. My mother had the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a wise old owl. In the distance she spotted what looked like a shack with a huge wood wheel that turned in the water all on its own. I wondered how I had not heard it groaning in rotation before.

  Suddenly my mother became quiet stopping us from noisily clamoring down the pebble bed side of the creek. She was positive if anyone was inside the tiny building we would alarm them. With a swift arm she placed her pointer finger to pursed lips silently calling to

  our attention her intent on sneaking nearer to the shack on the creek.

  Mother pointed to the bush nearest to where we stood. We nodded approvingly and silently followed one another into the bush where we sat obediently. Mother disappeared into the tree line. We waited anxiously for a signal that she had made it safely inside. After what felt like an eternity we heard a blood curdling scream followed by a loud gun shot.

  The baby, Theodore now four years old, began to whimper. My older sister Amelia also began to cry, though it was silent her tears were streaming down her face in a way I’d never seen before. Alarmed my hands began to tingle my face hot, sweeting my heart began to gallop. I leaped from my hiding place and like a terrified dear I ran toward the

  shack with no regard for the amount of noise I made or whom may have been lurking within.

  The door swung open and as a figure emerged from the darkness I skidded to a halt nearly falling forward into a barrel roll. I caught myself as inertia took hold of my body and twisted to turn and high tail it out of there like a coward when my mother’s angelic giggle stopped me in my place.

  “Mom?” I squeaked confused and mortified.

  “Yes, Joseph” She sighed giggling, “It’s me son.”

  “Wha-“I stammered, “what was that!?” I said in a heightened state of hysterics.

  She sat down whipping her face with a scarf she used to cover her hair while on long walks in the wood to protect her scalp from ticks. Mother slung a dead snack at my feet causing me to jump back as she began to cackle at my sudden surprise.

  “Mom!” I squeaked.

  “What?” she smiled, “it’s just a bitty snake” she finished.

  “That is not a bitty snake!” I laughed.

  “We’ll cook it up and eat it.” She smiled coolly calling out to Ted and Amelia to come forth from the bush.

  The two of them ran up the creek bed to where we sat. Tears welled in red eyes, they slammed into mom nearly knocking her over. Amelia looked into her eyes squeezing her tight. Amelia wore her emotions
on her face more

  than she spoke of them. Theodore being more verbal was the first to break the silence.

  “Mommy I thought you died!” He whimpered causing Amelia to also begin crying once more.

  “Oh no, Joseph show them the snake” Mother said calmly.

  “This clumsy snake slithered from under a cabinet and frightened me is all.” She smiled leaning forward right into Amelia’s face, “ We’re going to slice him open and gobble him up” She finished with her tongue sliding in and out like a serpent, eyes wide she began to giggle.

  Amelia disgusted began to squirm, “Ewwww!” she groaned.

  “Yuck!” Theodore laughed.

  Slapping her hands against her knees she stood tall.

  “We will watch this place for a few days just to see if anyone comes by, but by the layers of dust on the floor let alone the cupboards I’d say no one has been here in a decade.” She surmised aloud.

  Chapter four

  We went back to our mud and tall grass hut mama had built similarly to the ones we’d seen ages ago at Jamestown settlement. We didn’t mind it but I could tell mom didn’t approve. She always said no matter what I do it just feels dirty in here.