A Bump in the Rainy Night

Prologue

"Hey... Today's the day..." he said still looking at the clock. "You remember that my aunt's being released today, right?"

The elderly woman sees it too and she never felt this much relief, sadness and anxiety at the same time. Her nerves rattle slightly at the thought that something is about to happen.

"I do remember...." said the woman. "After all these years... Thank god for mercy..."

"I know you have some things you need to do, so I'll be the one to go pick up your sister, if that's okay with you..." said Samuel. 

"Sure, my dear son.." said the woman happily. "I need you to take good care of her, and bring my sister to me... Tell the prison guards that I sent you, and here's the letter..." she said as she slips a note to Samuel.

He nods, and stands up from bed and sets off, leaving the woman behind, claiming there are some last-minute touches that need to be done before going outside. 

As he disappears by clambering down the stairs, the woman continues eating breakfast whilst she then proceeds to watch the morning news channel to watch over what happened in the world. As soon as she finishes her meal, she stands up from bed as well.

She slowly walked towards the locked drawer across the right side of where her bed is. She uses the only key available in her possession for the lock to allow her to access the secret stash of her memories of her childhood, including various photographs that she had once kept with as their memento that dates back several decades. 

Despite one of the photographs had become degraded and its color became grainy, she stares thoroughly at the photo, almost as if she recognizes who is in the photo. On one shot, she could see a brown-haired young girl standing by the garden beside a tall purple-haired woman, wearing her white wedding gown and holding their hands together. The elderly woman smiled by the sight of this photo, before she looks over to the next photo, where the same girl from before, is now in a different location unlike the last photograph, showing her warm, smiling face with another woman behind the glass partition wall, which the elderly woman recognizes that its photo was taken at the West Viriginia Penitentiary.

As she fondly looks at the photographs, a little girl, 6 years of age, who turns out to be Samuel's daughter named Carla, shows up behind her by the doorway. She at first wants to say good morning to her grandmother, but she curious of what she is looking, the little girl walks up to the side of the elderly woman and asked:

"Grandma... What's that in the photo?"

The elderly woman at first tried to hide her photo from view as she turns sharply towards Carla. The two stared at each other for a few seconds with a rather awkward fashion, almost as if the woman had initially no idea which words she wants to speak to her granddaughter. But remembering about Samuel's words saying that he is going to pick up her sister, she felt that her granddaughter, Carla, deserves to know, as she knew that it would be the first time to meet her sister.

Taking a deep breath, the elderly woman said:

"Carla, my grandchild...   Come here," She then knelt down, handing the garden photograph. Carla asked: "Who is that?" to which the elderly woman spoke: "That purple-haired lady here, she is my sister... Her name is Vera..."

"She looks so beautiful even with that gown on, I cannot wait to meet her," said Carla. "I heard from my dad that he's going to pick her up, so where is she?"

The elderly woman sat silent again and sighed.

"You see... She was in prison..."

Carla was surprised by what her grandmother had spoken and asked: "What for? What's going on?"

The elderly woman gently rubs the photo where the woman wearing the gown was with her left thumb as she said:

"It was a long, long time ago... She did some terrible things that many people would find it hard to accept or justify, but I believed in her and I cared deeply, knowing that it wasn't her fault..."

She stood up and grabs another photo from her personal drawer to which she shows it to her granddaughter. It shows the same long-purple haired woman again, only this time, she is wearing prison overalls, standing beside a middle-aged man wearing beige leather coat and has a matching cap over his head. The two are seen standing side by side.

"I see, a handsome man, and that same woman from before in this photo..."  said Carla. Her grandmother said:

"At that time, my sister was so close to losing her freedom and potentially her life... had it not been for this handsome man right here... He... is the reason why... my sister got out a free woman... He's the reason why my sister, and her friends, are still alive... and I owe it all deeply to him."

Carla was intrigued and asked:

"Tell me more about it... Who is this man? What did he do?"

The elderly woman giggled, expressing interest of seeing her granddaughter's curiosity and strive to know more, and she spoke:

"It'll take some explaining to do, my dear grandchild...."

..

...

..

Prologue end.

Completed: November 25, 2023 - 3:45 AM PhST
Updated: May 14, 2024 - 5:02 PM PhST