Radiance

Elizabeth Underwood grew up without her Mother.

The closest memory she can recall of her mother is the last night when she saw her. Her Mother, Jane, had called Eliza into her room. This had been a normal thing for Eliza and Jane. A routine. Eliza, being only five at the time, skipped into her Mother's room. She paid no attention to the bags on the bed, and the clothes thrown about. The only thing she saw was the familiar frame of her Mother. The frame that one day would be hers too. Petite and beautiful but in the sensible way. Elizabeth believed her Mother was the most beautiful woman in the world. And when her eyes caught her Mother's, she couldn't help but to let out a small and gap toothed smile.

"Lizabeth, my darling, come here." Jane had said in her clear voice, but this time another emotion clouded the once very confident woman's tone. Elizabeth could never decipher this because she barely noticed until she would consistently replay this memory in her dreams. But that was besides the fact, because in the moment Eliza was happy. She crawled into her Mother's lap, and snuggled her touseled brunette curls into her mother's chest. She wavered in her scent, the scent of home. The scent only her Mother could claim.

"You know I simply adore you, yes?" Jane said. Her mother had never been too fond of the words, 'I love you'. She didn't believe in love. Elizabeth, being only a child, saw no wrong in this. She loved her Mother, whether the words were returned or not.

"Yes, Momma." Elizabeth's voice was quiet as she spoke. After this, they shared a few moments of silence as Lizabeth snuggled into her and Jane kept her arms at her sides, lifelessly.

"Dear, don't love anybody in this world." She said, suddenly cutting through the thick silence they had produced. Eliza's head perked up, and she stared at her Mother.

"But I love you, Momma. And Papa too." Eliza said. The situation had been such a routine that she wasn't even slightly bothered by her Mother's words.

"Everyone will let you down. Everyone. " Jane replied, not meeting her daughter's stare. Eliza was young, and knew better than to question her Mother but she continued to look at her, hoping that Jane would turn to look back at her and tell her why she had told her young daughter this.

"Okay, Momma." Eliza said as she hopped from her Mother's lap. Her Mother leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, and gave her a wary smile. Eliza thought that her Mother would say something else, something that Eliza needed to hear, but she simply nudged Eliza telling her without words to go to bed. Elizabeth obeyed, but right after she reached the door she turned her small frame back to her Mother. Jane stared at the vanity as if she herself was wondering who it was that was staring back. Elizabeth smiled, and continued off towards her room, eventually ending up in her sheets, legs tangled in the covers, deep in her dreams. It was just a normal night to Eliza. She didn't expect anything to change for her happy life.

She didn't know then that, that would be the last time she ever saw her Mother.

Elizabeth's eyes opened suddenly, a bright white light meeting them. A shiver ran up her spine as she suddenly began to weep at the memory.