Daughter of the Forest: Diary of an Assassin

by Edite L S Warren

  I had a burning curiosity however about what happened to father's diary and the chest full of ears that was under his bed. All his belongings had mysteriously disappeared, shortly after father had gone. Lorin and I had never seen father's possessions since. None of us spoke about what had happened however, and no one uttered father's name. There are no longer any pictures of him up on the walls and nothing of his remains at the farm. It is as if he never existed.

  I finished placing some paintings away in my drawer and wandered into the kitchen, where I stood silently, looking out of the window to the garden beyond. It was a beautiful sunny mid-September morning. I'd been home for a month now, and my memories of the city and my time at Judith's home were still fresh, but were slowly being replaced once again with the serenity of life on the farm and the rainforest that surrounded it. I watched as mother worked outside in the garden, and then, through the open window, I heard mother singing. Mother had never sung before. As I listened, I felt a tear roll out of my eye and down my cheek. I realised how happy mother must now feel. She had totally changed as a person and was now able to talk to us all openly and express her feelings. I realised how much she must have been hurting and living in fear for most of her life, whilst father had still been alive.

  I left the room, and headed outside to the garden. Mum didn’t notice me creeping up on her and was happily humming away to herself as I approached her. As she stooped to pick up some dried grass she saw me, almost jumping out of her skin. “Emilia, you frightened the life out of me,” she said, sighing loudly.

  “You frightened the life out of me,” I said. “I wondered who could be signing!”

  We both laughed out loud and hugged each other.

  “Do you fancy going for a stroll in the forest?” I asked her. “It’s been so long since we walked together amongst the trees mum.”

  Mother smiled. “Of course darling, but not far. I’m not sure how far my tired legs can carry me.”

  I walked with mother along the edge of the forest, a feeling of security washing over me like a warm blanket, almost like I was a child again. It was a feeling I had lost when growing up with father around. It had been a long time since I’d felt so carefree, and happy.

  “So, mother, whatever did happen to all of father’s things?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

  Mother looked up at me, the dry forest leaves crunching under our feet as we walked.

  “I thought we weren’t going to discuss your father again,” she said, a little surprised I’d brought the subject up.

  We walked on a bit in silence, before I spoke again. “But –”

  Before I could get my words out there was a loud crack, from the forest to our right, followed by a loud rustling.

  I could see a look of fear in mother’s eyes as we both simultaneously thought the same thing. Were we being followed?

  At that moment, a deer emerged through the thick undergrowth, saw us and bolted off back into the forest.

  Mother and I stood there, frozen to the spot momentarily, before we both burst out laughing.

  “I think we should be heading back Emilia,” mother finally said.

  I nodded, my heartrate quickly dropping back down to its normal level again.

  “You know,” mother said, turning to me. “It’s funny. Everyone, including me, feared your father so much. But now, it’s as if the silent assassin of the Amazon never existed.”

  I sighed, wondering if all father’s secrets would die with him and be lost to the Amazon forever.

  “Come on, let’s get back. Granny will be wondering what’s happened to us,” I said, parking any further thoughts about my father, and his secrets, for another day.

  THE END

  Author’s note

  I hope you enjoyed the story about my life in the Amazon – thankfully for me, that part of my life is now in the distant past. I am now happily living in the UK, where I have learnt English, work and paint.

  If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on Amazon.co.uk here and Amazon.com here.

  If you would like to check out any of my paintings, please visit me at my website – www.beyonepainting.co.uk

  Thank you for reading my book – Edite L Santana.