Daphne.
Struggling to tame her emotions, Daphne gasped at the whirl pool of tears that took hold of her cheek like a sort of passage to the underworld. Faint cries left her trembling lips as she held the remote in her hand.
"Oh...mama...oh!!! No..." she cried, holding unto her aching heart as she succumbed to her emotions. Her eyes grew blurry as each tear passed through them. Closing her lips tightly together, she held in the pain that was begging to be let out as her hands carefully touched her laptop's screen like a lover trying to give her lifeline to save her partner. But... there was nothing she could do when memories of her past hit her like thunder.
"Ahhhh... no!" she murmured breathlessly as her past life played before her eyes.
Strange breeze guided her to her younger self. She remembered she was 16 years old, and there she was with an angry look on her face as she walked past the patio to the garden.
"Why won't she let me breathe? I am an adult and can take good care of myself. I am responsible!" Daphne's younger self yelled, spitting at her mother's earlier words.
"I am not stopping you from having fun,but you can't be going out at any time you want, especially dressed like that." Her mother had said just like she had always said, and Daphne detest that statement.
How's wearing what she wants a bad thing? She is a big girl now and can do whatever she wants. She has been taking in her mothers words all these years as she waited patiently for her freedom. Her sweet sixteen birthday and what comes after... and, this is it. This is what comes after. She won't let her mother tell her what to do anymore. No! She wouldn't, and then, she left.
The now 20 year old Daphne wanted to stop her younger self from making that same mistake, but she couldn't. There she stood with the wind beside her as she watched the pain she had caused and the things that unfolded after. This is her curse. She brought it upon herself.
Daphne had wanted to follow her younger self, but she knew where she was heading. She knew it because she had lived that life and she knew exactly what she did... she... she...silent tears dripped down her face as the gust of wind led her to her mother's kitchen. Right there, 20 year old Daphne stood in her mother's house. She stood watching her mother getting busy in the kitchen with a tired look.
The aroma of baked cookies drifted right into her nose as Daphne held her chest tighter as a strange pain gripped her heart. "Oh, mother..." she said again and again, watching how her mother had worked in the kitchen trying to cook and keep everywhere clean as always.
And then came the dreadful moment, and at this moment, Daphne wished she hadn't left home angry that night. She wished she hadn't proclaimed herself as an adult because her age says she's now one. She wished for a lot of things, but the one thing she truly wished for was the restart button. She wished she had the power to restart everything, but there's no such power. Her memories are stuck in her past, which made her always get to view it like it was happening over and over again. It has always haunted her, and she deserves it, if not more.
Lost in her thought, the gust of wind led her straight to her mother's side when her mother staggered. "No, ma! Please, don't fall. You'll hit your head." Daphne said, begging her mother, but she wasn't heard because the next minute, the egg in the bowl that laid on the kitchen counter fell, and her mother staggered toward it which...which...
Struggling to close her eyes, Daphne screamed when she couldn't as she saw every detail of her mother's death. Lots of air filled her lungs, making it harder for her to breathe as she widened her eyes in fear of the horror in front of her. Opening and closing her mouth like that of a fish in the ocean, Daphne was lost of words. Tons of tears slid through her cheek down her body as she saw her mother's body on the floor and very close to her were red liquids. They surrounded her mother's body like she was in a bathtub, and right there, Daphne stood in her mother's house, unable to do anything.
Right there, her mother laid, with hands pointing toward the pot on fire, and like a mirror, Daphne's eyes saw the fire spread out like a plague in a foreign land with her mother in the middle.
"Mother, no! Please...please get up...please mother. I love you, Mother, please... Please, I am sorry... I am..."
"Boom!" and the one fine house was burnt down with her mother's body too gone to be found. And, right there, did Daphne stay watching as firefighters came in to fight off the fire, but it was too late. Her mother was gone, and so was her sanity.
The gust of wind led her to where her younger self was, and 20 year old Daphne felt disgusted by what she saw. She felt rage, a darkness surging through her veins as she saw her younger self crying over the death of her mother.
She wanted to scream, hold on to her younger self, and beat the hell out of her, but she couldn't. She couldn't do anything as the gust of wind led her back to her 20 years old self still holding a remote and lost in her painful past. Daphne had thought she would heal with time, but every time she watched a movie where the child acts like she had, it always took her back to her past. But no movie had ever taken her to her past this way except this movie, “In mother's house.” This is the only movie that took her to her detailed past. A past she couldn't escape, but maybe time would truly heal.
”Maybe, it will.” she said, closing her eyes briefly before closing her laptop.
What a great story; little more to add. Only that I hope Daphne ends up forgiving herself. A hug @balikis95
Yes, I truly hope so as well. I hope you are well. It has been a long time, amigo.
I'm fine, but with a lot of work. A big hug @balikis95
Oh, I see... take care of yourself.
This is where that saying "you don't know what you have until you lose it". Like most teens, Daphne was just displaying youthful exuberance.
Daphne should forgive herself as time heals all wounds.
That's right. Yes, she was just displaying youthful exuberance, but sometimes, it comes back to haunt them, and other times, things are minimal.
A story with bitter memories and the desire to start over as if there really existed a remote control to go back and give a twist to our history, rather than regret, we must know how to move forward despite ..... Life is not always easy but it is not impossible to take a step to heal those wounds caused by our decisions and actions, maybe it is late and we cannot turn back time, but we can treasure those beautiful warm and comforting moments before pride, rebellion and the pressure of being an adult envelop us and turn us into egocentric. Lessons to be learned: respect our elders, don't compare ourselves with others, value what our parents do for us, even if we don't know it, thank you for sharing it.
Yeah, we must indeed learn how to move forward, but it is never easy to do that. There's pain, tiredness, and a lot to look at.
Yes, I do agree with you. Treasuring those beautiful moments and appreciating their presence before the bad times may work.
The lessons learned are powerful, and you've said them right. Thanks for taking the time to read and give your feedback. I truly appreciate your presence here.
I hope Daphne heals with time and forgives herself. A heartbreaking captivating story.
Yes, I hope she does. Thanks for reading.
It seems fate was rather harsh to Daphne. She suffered severe punishment for her adolescent disobedience. Of course, she didn't kill her mother. An accident did. Remembering the last thing she said to a loved one is hardly fair to her, is it? There is a lifetime of love and experience behind that one event. It is that long experience that should give her heart.
In time, Daphne will come to see the folly of blaming herself for her mother.
Thank you for sharing this with us, @balikis95. You certainly worked in the prompt well in this piece.
Yeah, it was. Her adolescent disobedience brought in more than she could handle...
I hope she does. Thanks for stopping by.
Oh no!! What a painful thing for Daphne to lose her mother. It's a just like scars that will always be remember of.
That's right. It is a scar that would forever be there.
There are some memories that seem to remain eith us forever as there are always things to bring them to our subconscious
Hey Bali, I admire your writing skills
Confam writing here. Bravo
That's very right. Some memories stick.
Hehe, thankiu.
Such memories can be really sad ones because we have to live with it for the rest of our lives. Daphne's younger self made lots of mistakes, forgetting that nothing is truly permanent in life.
Yes, her younger self made a lot of mistakes, and now, she knows better.
Daphne's younger self made lots of mistakes but I guess that's how some teenagers her age behaves at that age.
She should learn to forgive herself and always think of the good memories she shared with her mum.
You write so well. Thank you for sharing.
#dreemerforlife
Yes, that's how they behave, but hers became her doom.
I hope she does. Thank you, ma'am 😊.
tragic, very ... 😐 but well narrated.
#dreemerforlife
Thank you
Wonderful story, Balikis 🥰 You make our hearts go out to Daphne. We yearn for her heart to feel whole again, and for her to realise that at some point you let go of what is holding you back. A few poor choices and ill-conceived moments with her mother do not define their relationship.
#dreemerforlife
Thank you, Sam. And yeah, I do agree with your last statement. She needs to forgive herself.
This is a beautiful story with life lessons in it. Daphne is having this regrets because she believes that she caused her mother's death and that's why the memories of her past keep coming back to hunt her. Many people are going through this same ordeal now but just like we know, regrets won't solve anything, the only thing to do is forgive oneself and make amends.
Good job.
#dreemerforlife
Yes, regret won't sort anything. She needs to move on and forgive herself.