Stranger
Two.
That night, lying in the unfamiliar sheets of my mother’s guest bedroom, it finally hit me. Emma would never have a mother; my mother would never have a daughter. I sighed at the thought and readjusted the feather pillows. Maybe I never really had a mother either.
For the next week of my life, I would lie in this bed, under the heavy, floral comforter, and wonder why she hadn’t kept a room for me. In a way, it was fair. Emma never had room in my mother’s house, in my mother’s heart, in my mother’s life. Maybe I didn’t deserve the luxury of knowing my mom, either.
I immediately regretted that thought. I loved my mother. But I didn’t want to be here anymore, Emma should’ve been allowed to come too.
I pushed the covers away from me, sitting on the edge of the queen sized bed. Quietly, I walked across the room to turn on the lights, trying not to cringe at the feel of the cold wooden floors against my bare feet. With the room illuminated, I made my way back towards the nightstand and grabbed my cell phone to call Emma.
“Zac,” my mother half-whispered from just outside the bedroom door. “Are you okay? I heard you moving around.” I sighed, defeat crawling into every corridor of my mind. I sat back down on the mattress, the metal springs squeaking lightly under my weight.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just…getting back from the bathroom.” Hoping that would be good enough for her, I dropped my phone onto the sheets beside me. My mother opened the door, a relieved smile spread across her lips. She flipped the light switch off, allowing the light from the hall sconces to filter through the doorway.
“Goodnight, Zac,” she said, closing the heavy, oak door behind her.
“Goodnight, Mom.”
For the next week of my life, I would lie in this bed, under the heavy, floral comforter, and wonder why she hadn’t kept a room for me. In a way, it was fair. Emma never had room in my mother’s house, in my mother’s heart, in my mother’s life. Maybe I didn’t deserve the luxury of knowing my mom, either.
I immediately regretted that thought. I loved my mother. But I didn’t want to be here anymore, Emma should’ve been allowed to come too.
I pushed the covers away from me, sitting on the edge of the queen sized bed. Quietly, I walked across the room to turn on the lights, trying not to cringe at the feel of the cold wooden floors against my bare feet. With the room illuminated, I made my way back towards the nightstand and grabbed my cell phone to call Emma.
“Zac,” my mother half-whispered from just outside the bedroom door. “Are you okay? I heard you moving around.” I sighed, defeat crawling into every corridor of my mind. I sat back down on the mattress, the metal springs squeaking lightly under my weight.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just…getting back from the bathroom.” Hoping that would be good enough for her, I dropped my phone onto the sheets beside me. My mother opened the door, a relieved smile spread across her lips. She flipped the light switch off, allowing the light from the hall sconces to filter through the doorway.
“Goodnight, Zac,” she said, closing the heavy, oak door behind her.
“Goodnight, Mom.”