Jiro is a hopeless guy who suffered an injury caused by an accident when he was still very young. He thought of giving up and felt very lonely because of having no one to care for him anymore. And so, he began loving to watch the sunrise as a sign o...
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I was again in the middle of the soft sand, thinking about her and our memories. Her voice still lingers in my ears. Oh, how I love to hear it!
"Are you Jiro?" someone spoke suddenly from behind me with a hint of deep sadness in her voice.
I turned to see who called my attention and I was surprised to see an old woman smiling back at me, though she looks lonely.
"Y-Yeah! Do I know you, ma'am?"
"I am Audrey's mom!"
I felt more surprised by what the old woman had said. However, I also felt excited because I would have now the chance to ask about Audrey and know where she really was.
"I'm pleased to meet you, ma'am. W-Where is she now? Four months had already passed since our last communication on the phone. Why did she not call me again? No days and nights that I patiently wait for her another call. If she only knew how very glad I am, the time I heard her beautiful voice!"
"Yeah, she's right. You're full of hope, young man. She always talked about you; of how happy she was when you were together while waiting for the sunrise to come and of how she regards you as the best man she ever met in her entire life. She admires you so much. Often did we see her smiling, but whenever she tells us about you she's full of joy. That's what we'd be missed about her..." her voice suddenly broke into sobs.
"W-What's wrong? Why are you crying?" I asked, trying to hide the fear in my voice.
It took several seconds before Audrey's mom replied.
"She passed away four months ago. But before she died, she asked us the last favor... and that was to call you!"
There seemed to be lightning that struck me the time I heard that shocking revelation. I was so much shocked that my world had suddenly stopped spinning. I couldn't breathe for a moment and I really can't believe the thing she said. "No, that couldn't be," I told myself as I fell down to my enervating knees.
"She suffered cancer in the throat that has just been found out very late. At first, we thought of it as a simple tonsil only. But we were shocked when the doctor revealed to us the true condition of my daughter that the swelling of her throat has turned cancerous. And the most painful and unacceptable part of all was that she only has six months to live. If she speaks more, it would cause the duration of her life to be shortened that's why the doctor advised her to just use a paper to write there anything that she wanted to say instead of talking.
My daughter still wants to live at her very young age. How painful really it is to see your daughter suffering from too much pain. That time we do not know how to comfort ourselves. But although it's so hurtful, we still tried to show her joy instead of sorrow. She risked her remaining life by talking to you. And she wanted me to tell you that. . . that she loves you!"
I was very surprised at what I've heard. I wanted to jump because of so much happiness. But I just can't because my heart's already crying in sorrow.
Before Audrey's mom left me in my grief, she handed me an envelope and the cell phone I had given to her daughter.
I stared down at the envelope for so long before I had gathered my courage to open it.
