Too late to reconcile

Martha turned on the bed, yawning and stretching on the bed. She stared at the ceiling, too lazy to do anything else. Even the previous stretching felt like mighty great work, and she was tempted to close her eyes and indulge in the sleep that lurked at its corners.

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She checked the time on her phone sleepily and saw that it was 10: 00 am. The memories of the previous night at the club played in her head. The fun she had seemed as though it had been decades.

She dropped the phone and curled up under the duvet, getting back to sleep.

Just when she was about to grab the realm of sleep, her phone rang.

Martha grabbed the phone and tossed it aside, still with her eyes shut. The phone rang repeatedly and she groaned before turning to her side and angrily grabbing the phone, placing it to her ear.

“Hello!” her voice sounded sleepy and exhausted. She hadn’t checked the caller before she picked up the call.

“Martha. Where have you been?!” she heard her mum’s voice and she instantly flicked her eyes open.

“Mum?” she called out as a question rather than as a surprise. She hadn’t heard from her for a while now and even though her mum had been pleading for her to come visit, she had been procrastinating.

“Where have you been, Martha?” her mum asked again and this time, Martha could hear her voice clearly.

She sounded weak and drained.

“Mum, are you okay?”

“I’m okay but where have you been? I want you to come visit, Martha. I really want you to.”

“Mum. You know I have been busy and all. You know how much I have prayed for this job and now that I have gotten one, I need to make sacrifices and that sacrifice includes my time.”

“But I haven’t seen you in two years.”

“Mum, are you okay? You sound so weak.”

“I’m okay, I guess. I just want to see you.”

“For what, mum?”

“Is it wrong to want to see you?”

“It is selfish of you. You know how much this work means to me yet you are craving for me like a kid!”

“Martha!”

She knew that was harsh of her to say to her mum but she couldn't hold back. She felt as though her mum was leeching on her in an annoying way. She wanted to say something to soothe her, to make her know she didn’t mean to hurt her but no soothing words formed in her head.

“You know what, mum. Let me just call you back later when we’re on the same page when I’d be chanced to come visit.”

“But Martha, I need to see you as soon as possible,” her mum’s voice sounded so soft and touching but for some reason, her heart remained strong. Maybe it was the return from the club at 5 am.

“Like I saw you at my prom? At my graduation? At every important time in my life, you never showed up. I never saw you. Why the hell would you stress me out no?!”

“Forgive me, my child. I know I was wrong and you have every right to be mad at me and treat me badly but find a place in your heart to forgive me!”

“I am trying, so don’t push me!”

“But I wanna see you. I’m sick, Martha.”

“And I’m sick of you stressing out about seeing me! Don't ruin my morning!” Martha said angrily, ending the call and leaving her mum a broken soul.

Deep down, Martha knew she wanted to visit her. Her constant request to see her the past months has been very annoying but she had just been procrastinating the visit.

There was still a part of her that was still holding a grudge against her mum. She remembered the past trauma she had caused her and now, a part of her was leaning on that to act towards her. She remembered how she would come back home late at night drunk while she had been assaulted by her teacher in school. She remembered how humiliated she was when all her friend’s parents came over to their graduation but her mum was absent. She remembered a lot and none of those feelings was intriguing.

Two days later, Martha had planned to finally go to her mum the previous day but she shifted it to the next day. She was at work when she got a call from an unknown number.

“Hello, is this Martha?”

“Uhmm…who’s this, please?”

“I’m Nurse Kendall but I need to be certain I am on to Martha Jones.”

“Yes…yes, you are,” Martha replied with a furrowed eyebrow as she awaited her next words.

“Sorry, to disclose this to you but your mum died last night from excessive internal bleeding of the veins. I’m sorry for your…”

“Excuse me. What do you mean dead?”

“Apparently, she has been sick and early treatment could have saved her.”

Martha sank into her seat with sadness settling over her. She could have saved her mother if only she had set aside her sentiment and stopped procrastinating, she could have saved her!

“Where do I need to go?” were her words as tears rolled down her cheeks effortlessly.

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This is my submission to the Inleo prompt suggestion for May. The topic is "Procrastination, planning.....". You can join here. This is the calendar