Silent Nightmares and Morbid Fairytales
The End of All Things
My Mother took a long drag of her cigarette before carelessly tossing my last suitcase into the trunk of my Uncle's silver Pontiac.
Her dishwater blonde hair was twisted up in a knot, pinned to the top of her head in a matte of crooked bobby pins and three days worth of layered hairspray. Tired green eyes followed me as I reached into the trunk and adjusted the bag so it was upright, sighing under my breath as I heard the shift of broken glass inside.
Uncle James walked around the front of his car. “That everything?” He nodded towards the two bags of possessions I had, and the one roll of blankets with my pillow tied to it with a scarf. I nodded solemnly.
“Kay, good. We’d better get going if we’re going to be to Virginia by nightfall. I have to be back for the night shift. Kate, it was... Good to see you again. I’ll take care of her.” He gruffly made his goodbyes before walking around the car and climbing in. Uncle James is a man of few words all on his own, but around my Mother he’d become a mute. They never saw eye to eye, for as far as I could tell. I still couldn’t figure why he agreed to care for me.
I looked at my Mom, into her tired green eyes. She didn’t look sad nor excited to see me go. Her gaze matched that of someone who was watching a disliked neighbor moving. It was niether celebrated or mourned.
“Bye, Mom.” I say, hoping it would remind her to take actuon and do what most parents do when their kids are leaving, but instead, she nodded briefly.
“Take care of yourself, kid.”
She remained still, frozen on the cracked concrete stoop of our once shared apartment while I sighed in disappointment, turning away, getting into the backseat, slamming the door behind me and buckling in. When I looked back out the window, she was already gone.
Her dishwater blonde hair was twisted up in a knot, pinned to the top of her head in a matte of crooked bobby pins and three days worth of layered hairspray. Tired green eyes followed me as I reached into the trunk and adjusted the bag so it was upright, sighing under my breath as I heard the shift of broken glass inside.
Uncle James walked around the front of his car. “That everything?” He nodded towards the two bags of possessions I had, and the one roll of blankets with my pillow tied to it with a scarf. I nodded solemnly.
“Kay, good. We’d better get going if we’re going to be to Virginia by nightfall. I have to be back for the night shift. Kate, it was... Good to see you again. I’ll take care of her.” He gruffly made his goodbyes before walking around the car and climbing in. Uncle James is a man of few words all on his own, but around my Mother he’d become a mute. They never saw eye to eye, for as far as I could tell. I still couldn’t figure why he agreed to care for me.
I looked at my Mom, into her tired green eyes. She didn’t look sad nor excited to see me go. Her gaze matched that of someone who was watching a disliked neighbor moving. It was niether celebrated or mourned.
“Bye, Mom.” I say, hoping it would remind her to take actuon and do what most parents do when their kids are leaving, but instead, she nodded briefly.
“Take care of yourself, kid.”
She remained still, frozen on the cracked concrete stoop of our once shared apartment while I sighed in disappointment, turning away, getting into the backseat, slamming the door behind me and buckling in. When I looked back out the window, she was already gone.