I Love You, Mom

Lisabeth Parker's mother is killed in a car-crash. She reflects upon her mother's death.

   "Your mother is dead."



  The statement struck me cold on that sunny August afternoon. It was as if the world was still, that the crickets were no longer chirping, that the breeze was no longer blowing. Everything faded around me as tears filled my eyes, bitter sadness churning in my heart, and there was nothing, nothing but hurt and regret. Why? Why hadn't she stopped? Why? Why had she drove? She could've taken the bus or the train or asked her friend for a ride! Maybe nothing would've happened to her then!



      I still remembered her, her eyes, those emerald green eyes always so full of energy. I remember her mischievious smile, her long brown hair and her bubbly liveliness. But now it was all gone. She was gone, and I missed her. I missed her warm, lively smile. I missed her soothing voice. I missed even her scoldings of: "Lisabeth Parker, do your homework now!"



       That night I went home to bed, lying awake, tossing and turning over and over again, and for the rest of the week that continued, and I often woke up with fresh tears staining my pillow. Sometimes I lay still, staring out the window at the moon, thinking about her, and other times I lay in a deep, empty, dreamless sleep.



     Even now, years after what happened, I still cry when I think of her, still cry whenever someone says her name. Today is Mother's Day.



     I tried to hold back a fresh batch of tears as I laid a bouquet of roses against her headstone. "Happy Mother's Day, Mom," I imagined that I was talking to her, the real woman, with her warm smile and emerald green eyes and long hair, I imagined her holding her arms out to me, and my heart ached to embrace her. But I simply stood up, turned towards my car with silent solemness, climbing in.

 

     I glanced at her grave as I started the car, ready to drive away. "I love you, Mom." And the car took off, rolling across the road. Suddenly out from nowhere came a truck...the driver was honking frantically, trying to to stop, stepping hard on the brakes. I closed my eyes seconds before the impact sent my car flying back, whispering, half to myself, half to the spirits above: "I love you, Mom."

Author's Note

Is this sad enough?

Reviews

[The Perfectionist]

You're going to have to do a lot better than that to pluck at my withered heartstrings, but at least you're in the right playing field.

This story, short as it is, is rife with cliche about death and the despair that comes thereafter. Not two sentences go by without you referencing something that's been done a million times elsewhere. The problem with writing about death is that everyone does it, and you need something to make you stand out.

The ending does that, if nothing else. It's abrupt (which it rather has to be in a story this short), and it's effective and well-written. Well, that's a bit unfair. The whole thing is well-written, just steeped in old writing cliches. The whole thing didn't make me sad so much as it made me crave something new, but for what it's worth, it's an excellently written and well delivered set of cliches.

Man, I used the word cliche a lot, didn't I? So in summary, well written, decently paced, good ending, could have stood to be a bit less formulaic.

[Rose of Gondor]

@ The Perfectionist: Thank you for the thorough review. I'm voting it constructive right after I post the thing I have to say.

[Rose of Gondor]

Dark Promises: Thank you. So it is sad enough after all.

[Stormy Weather]

This brought me very close to tears, which is pretty unusual, considering I don't cry very often. It's so sad! (obviously) But I loved it nonetheless. Quite heartfelt, too. Great story!!!