Unknown

Chapter 1

I felt gentle hands firmly grip my shoulders, violently shaking my entire body. Within moments my eyelids fluttered open to a bright light directly overhead. Shielding them from the blinding source, I immediately returned to the dark world with shut eyes. Piercing screams sounded in a distant place but I felt my head throbbing uncontrollably, and willed for them to stop.
Surprisingly, they did.
The pain in my forehead had yet to overcome. Instinctively, I pinched the bridge of my nose and felt the soothing bliss of nothingness drifting through my mind. I reached deep within myself and heard my heart's pounding quieten. Blocked ears allowed me to concentrate on the shallowness of my breathing and pleaded it to calm itself down. I gradually began to feel the tingling sensation trickle down my forehead; different yet so... Normal. I felt around my forehead with the back of my palm and felt a warm liquid dampening the tips of my fingers. I finally decided to open my eyes, hoping with all my heart I would not be momentarily blinded once more. To my astonishment, I was only met with a faint glow towards my right. Light crept into the room through the opening of a doorway.

"Honey..." I shifted my head so I could face the owner of the melodious voice, I was met by ocean blue eyes. My mother's eyes.

I used a dreary moment to take in her features and felt a slow smile stretch across my face. The deep red which defined every strand of her hair and the luscious waves which fell just below her shoulders. I admired the way her scarlet lips contrasted perfectly with her fair skin. Every feature on her face appeared soft and poised, as if sculpted.
My smile faltered.
I realised her skin was not glowing as it used to seem. Instead, as her face began to materialise before my eyes, I realised her cheeks were puffy. The face which used to brighten my day, was now blotchy as if constant crying left everlasting marks. Noticeable creases lined her forehead, wrinkling her ever so smooth skin. Then my eyes found hers once again and it was as if the entire world had shattered into millions of tiny specs, disappearing into oblivion. I no longer took notice of the colours which swirled within her eyes. Instead, I stared. I stared at the tiredness which enveloped her exhausted pupils. I saw her dry eyes gradually begin to water. I watched her hand slowly make its way towards her cheek as she quickly brushed off a an escaped tear. I couldn't bear to look, so cowardly looked down.
Various emotions flooded through me. Pain. Discomfort. Sorrow. Worry. Confusion. Helplessness. That was the worst of all. I didn't know what had caused her to cry right before me, but I did remember she had never done so before. She would always provide hope and optimism so never let me see the weak side of her which would have crumbled my motivation. Today, my mother had let a tear slip through. I knew something was wrong. I had never been in a situation in which I had to comfort her; she was never the victim of emotional breakdowns. I slowly reached out my hand and felt around the bed for hers. I gently brushed against her fingers and held them, tighter than I had ever done so before. I forced myself to look back up at the swirls of soothing blue and knew I had to help. We only had each other.
I opened my mouth and choked on any silent words that lingered in my throat. My brave and powerful mother was crumbling at my very knees and I was acting like the victim. Regardless of the internal struggle, I mustered enough courage to barely speak out a whisper.

"Mum."

That was when she let it out.
All of it.
Her quiet tears turned to violent sobs. I could barely witness her single tears, let alone hysterical cries and could no longer handle it. I broke down. I grasped onto her shoulders and pulled her towards me. The embrace held both of us up, each leaning on one another for support. I felt her body sink into me as her tears flooded my shoulder and my heart. We remained in the fragile state for what seemed like hours, but the sunlight which crept through the blinds inferred otherwise.
Eventually, the serene innocence began to fade from the room as my mother regained herself. I felt her posture straighten while still in the midst of the embrace and the guard she had let down moments before, shielded her true emotions from me once again. Abruptly, she let go of me and hurriedly wiped her face with her palms. I had no idea what had overcome her, what was so empowering that she cried before me and suddenly withdraw.
My mother smiled.

"Honey, what would you like to eat? Blueberry pancakes?" My mum knew how much I adored these delicate pieces of sweetness. On any other day, I would have smiled at level of knowingness between my mother and I, but today, something was off.

"Mum. Are you - are you ok?"

"Sure. What happened was nothing to worry about. I just needed the embrace, that's all."
Unwillingly, I brushed off the peculiar start to this morning and decided to drop it...for now.

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I am a new writer so please feel free to tell me if you have any ideas that could help me make this story better.
I am sorry that this chapter was not very eventful, but that is only because I was trying to establish a very important relationship. Once again, sorry, but the story will get better in the coming chapters as I am trying to build the story,

Thank you for reading.
-SK