Breaking Habits

Chapter 25- Micah-Return Home

I'm at the hospital going through the numb process of identifying my parent's bodies, and when the doctor pulls the sheets from their faces, they don't look dead to me.

There's no blood, cuts or bruises marring their skin. It looks like they're in a peaceful sleep.

"Blame yourself for this!" Mom yells snapping her eyes open, they're bloodshot red.

Frightened I jump out of my sleep. Fuck! It happened again. I haven't been sleeping lately, and when I do take short naps, that's the dream that comes.

I still can't believe it. The only people I have linked to this world are gone and I can't stop beating myself up. I let my parents down and because I did, they died.

The calls I missed were them telling me to meet them at the airport sooner because they got transferred on another flight that landed early. Then, they called again to say that were going to rent a car if they didn't hear back. When I didn't call back, the did and then....

The sergeant who I spoke with told me what happened. An idle driver ran my parent off the road as they drove home from the airport. The person didn't stop at the scene, and the police are carrying out an investigative search. The crime was reported on the local news, but no one has come forwards yet.

My parents were good people, and they didn't deserve to go out like that. They should have lived out their lives carrying out their mission, saving people, animals and the world, but some reckless driver decided to take that away from them. An image of what happened formulates in my head and my eyes starts to burn with tears while my heart hurts with sadness, sorrow, and anger.

The loss that's tearing me apart. I should have been there for them. Now I have no families left. My grandparents died a long time ago. I have no brothers or sisters, cousins, nieces or nephews. No aunts are uncles because my parents were an only child, just like me.

"You fell asleep man! We're here." The taxi driver announces.

After I left the hospital, I took a taxi to my old town, but I didn't have the heart to go home, so I booked a hotel and stayed for few days.

I get out of the car and there's a vigil crowding the front yard and walkway to my parent's house.

"It's terrible what happen to those people.... but I guess we all have to go someday...If you want to go anywhere while you're in town, call the office and ask for me, Joe."

He drives off and the crowd stop paying their respects to stare. Some of the people I recognised but I block them out as I stand here with the weight of the world on my shoulders.

Admiring my childhood home, a detached three-bedroom house surrounded by green hedges and shrubbery. Mom's winter garden is in full bloom. Snow drops, honey suckles and yellow woodland aconites casts a beautiful spell over the front yard.

Mom tried her hardest to get me into gardening. She used to make me recite the names of each plant the times we gardened and thinking of those memories now almost brings me to my knees.

The maple and red oak tree that I used to climb with dad is leafing in their bloom. I broke my arm falling out of the oak tree and I cried so hard that day while dad tried his best not to panic. The memory makes me want to smile but it's too hard.

"Is that him?" Someone says cutting my thoughts.

I've only been back here few times after I got out of prison so most of the people here haven't seen me since I was fifteen. Ignoring their prying eyes, I move off towards my house.

"Where has he been all this time?"

"He waited all these years to come back now?"

They're right. I should have visited my parents more often. The truth makes me drape my hoody over my head so it hangs low to cloak my face, but it doesn't make me invisible. Their judging eyes are on me still and the whisper gets louder as I get closer to the door.