6 Months after Julia’s death.

 13:30 South-Western Townships (Soweto), In a small room.

“Julia!!!!!!!!!”, Lauren woke up from a late afternoon nap with a face of terror and sadness written all over her face.

“It's fine, it's fine, it's fine. I’m here Lauren”, Cheryl rushed to her daughter’s aid hugging her tightly.

“Julia, she’s gone, she’s gone, Mom. She’s gone, I killed her, I killed her”, Lauren suddenly began crying as tears never ceased from dripping down her eyes. Her mind, body, and soul were extremely agitated and sorrow continued to plague her since Julia’s death. She could not come to grips with her reality, subsequently, a feeling of profound guilt always loomed in her heart, a guilt etched so deep for the death of her best friend.

Perhaps if she never took that shortcut, if only she had not, if, if ….

Unfortunately, the past could not be altered no matter how hard we wished to go back. We can only move forward learning from our mistakes and faults engraving the lessons we have learned to not recreate the tragedies of the past. We can only pray that our dear departed are peaceful wherever they have gone and hold out hope that we will heal because that is what the people who truly love us would want from us.

“It’s alright, Lauren. It’s alright….”, Cheryl attempted to comfort her daughter in the best possible way she knew how. Eventually, her daughter cried herself to sleep again and she tucked her in bed with a warm smile plastering itself on her face. They say a mother’s love is as vast as the ocean but hers was as boundless as the universe. It could not be understood by mere man. Its abundance could only be described in one word “everlasting”.

Once her daughter was at peace, she left the room then entered the living room and lethargically slouched into a chair. She was exhausted, she was at her breaking point, and her thoughts and feelings were a muddled mess. 

She could not think properly and her precarious situation drained her of energy but she had to remain strong for her daughter and her own sake. She raised her legs and rested them on a small cubicle table whilst her head tilted upwards to look at the corrugated iron ceiling. A long-winded sigh escaped her lips before shutting both eyes in thought.

She did not know how long it would take for her daughter to overcome this traumatic occurrence and could only hope that things would come right with enough time and effort to help her. Right now, she had bills that needed to be paid to maintain their livelihood just for a little longer until this brilliant daughter of hers moved to one of the dorms on campus at the school. Her loving daughter was on a scholarship at such a prestigious school so she did not need to worry about any educational expenses as she was getting support from the school. She was her pride, her light, and the only thing in this world she believed was worth living for. Her beautiful, smart, kind, and cute Lauren. A gift God had given her and a gift she was eternally grateful for.

The only thing that truly worried her was when her daughter would be able to overcome this tragedy that beckons destruction, misery, and despair because she did not have much time.

“My daughter, I’m sorry. I’ve tried everything, I’ve done everything in my power for you to live a normal life so I hope you don’t blame me for all this misery you are going through. Your mother is quite pitiful you know, she never really had anything worth living for in this world. My dearest Juan, your father even left before his time and never got to see just how great you have become. Sometimes I wish he was right here next to me reading to me his favorite novels just like the old days. He would narrate the stories he read with emphasis and emotion. It was hilarious at times because of the many facial gestures that would bloom on his face. He made my day every day; he was the reason I woke up every morning. I had nothing but I had him who loved me with every fiber of his being

 His eloquent tongue was probably why I fell in love with him, he was quite the charmer but the silent type too. “, she said to herself, pouring out her heart.

“Eventually we got married and had you but who would’ve thought that he would leave this world just 1 week before you were born? I couldn’t understand how my dear Juan wouldn’t even be able to see his child, how cruel must this world be to continually take the things we love from us? I did not want to live, I did not want to continue to live in such a harsh and cruel world but I knew I still had you who needed me more than ever so I raised you in the best possible way and I think I did a pretty good job; don’t you think?”, slight drops of tears fell from her closed eyes.

“But now my dear daughter you will need to suffer once again. Please, God, help her. Please don’t let her give up, give her the strength to keep moving forward, guide her, and keep her safe. That is all I ask of you. Please.”

That is all she could give; all she could ask for you.

When she opened her eyes again, all she perceived was a blur. She could not see properly and her vision grew ever more so obscure. Her scarlet red eyes dimmed and began to turn visibly black with the pupil in her eyes subtly fading into nothingness. She was turning blind but even more evident was a hoarse cough that escaped her esophagus as blood trickled down the corner of her lip. She sighed as her vision returned a little bit and wiped the blood from her lip.

“I guess I should get some rest as well”, she said to herself as she proceeded to close her eyes once more then fell asleep in merely a few minutes.

Just as the sun rose from the horizon a very tired Lauren woke up extremely lethargic indicating her lack of proper sleep. Trails of whiteness were visible on her face which showed how much she had cried subsequently her disorientated facial appearance revealed just how much depression she was suffering from. In her stupor, she was greeted by a harsh cough accompanied by heavy breathing which resounded in the whole shelter. She immediately jumped out of her bed and rushed to the other room.

“Mom, are you alright?”

When she entered the living room, she saw her mother on a chair constantly shivering with sweat trickling down her face. She was twisting left and right signifying the amount of agitation in her body that would not recede.

“MOM!!! What’s wrong?!”

Lauren spontaneously expressed heavy worry as she rushed next to her mom and quickly observed her. Her mother slightly opened her right eye which had the scarlet hue reduced to almost nothing but she was able to see Lauren’s worry so she smiled slightly to somewhat give her a feeling of security but that did nothing to disperse her worry and only fueled her concern. Seconds later she began to shiver more vigorously and the contorted expression on her face grew more distorted.

“MOM!! MOM!!!”, she leaned near her mom and gave her a long warm hug to try to stop her from shivering but that could not abate the situation. She held her mother tighter and prayed that everything would be alright.

Cheryl’s shivering body slowly calmed down and her breathing regulated. Her dimmed scarlet eyes alternated between a vivid and dark hue, it was unknown what was happening to her but she knew one thing. Her life was fading, she was losing touch with reality, a sense of dread permeated her soul, and the scythe of death clung to her neck awaiting to behead her.

“Mom, are… you alright?”, her daughter asked in a small and concerned voice.

“I’m…fine now”, Cheryl responded in a slow detached voice.

“Okay…”, responded Lauren with droopy eyes.

“Lauren.”

“Mom?”

Cheryl looked at her daughter with pride and relief, but mostly heavy sadness. She slowly raised her left and held onto her daughter’s subsequent cheek.

“I won’t be staying with you from now on”, she smiled.

“What do you mean Mom”, she questioned.

Cheryl leaned back into her chair and sighed in tiredness. She said no more as her skin began to rapidly change in color. A black hue spread across her body and parts of her body began to decay, breaking off subtly.

“Mom?”, Lauren said in a soft voice.

“It’s okay, Lauren. It’s alright”, she softly rubbed Lauren’s cheek and smiled.

“Mom, you?!”, tears dripped down from Lauren’s eyes.

“It's alright. It's fine.”, Lauren continued to smile as the hand on her daughter's face began to fade, decaying into dust which slowly spread to her arm.

Lauren was rendered speechless and simply wept in agony and trepidation. She couldn’t understand what was happening and worst of all she didn’t have the power to stop it. Her powerlessness was evident which made her feel useless…

“I wish I had more time but unfortunately it seems that my time is up. My dear, Lauren, I have raised you the best way I knew how, I’m so sorry that I’m going to let you suffer again. I wish it wasn’t the case …… Please forgive me …. “

Lauren’s body was shaking, shock, unbelief, and sadness completely overwhelmed her rational mind and it took a moment before she responded…

“Why … is… this … happening ….to…. you?”

“[The Other Side]”, she said softly as the left side of her body now was completely decayed.

“The…. Other…. Side…., what …. is…. that…?”

Cheryl just smiled and didn’t answer. She actually couldn’t answer because the rest of her body had already decayed …

“I will always love you Lauren”, Cheryl said with a smile before completely vanishing from existence leaving minuscule amounts of dust behind which Lauren had to look at. She just watched her Mother die before her eyes.

She died……

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!”