Their Princess

Ch. 1- Mama's End

"I'm good," I reply. "It's been a long time, how has Mrs. Luck been doing?" I asked about his wife as I unstocked the food from the basket.

"Not the best I'm afraid," Mr. Luck grunts. "Doctor talking all that be prepared for the worst."

"Shouldn't you be with her?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"Said she doesn't want me near her."

"I think she didn't mean it." I shrug as I clutch onto the bags he passed me.

"I guess I should," He sighs as he hands me my change and receipt. "Oh, and grab a can of whatever, for free."

"Thank you!" I squeaked as I grabbed a Fanta from the shelf and popped it into the bag with the other things.

I wave goodbye as I shudder at the sudden hit of the freezing wind. I made my way back home as I plugged in my earbuds, shutting out the screaming in the background.

Mr. Luck's wife has been close to her end and has been put on bed rest by the doctors. The fees were high and she still needed a caretaker, so Mr. Luck has been practically living at the shop.

The first time I had met her, was when I offered Mr. Luck to keep her company when she had been feeling at her worst. She stood there at the door pale and coughing but still had this bubbly life in her even though she was slowly dying. I asked her how she stayed so positive when she's terminally ill and she told me it's because she wanted to focus on the good things in life not the bad things. If she had focused on the bad things in her life, it would've eaten away at her.

I back into the old apartment escaping the cold but not the stairs. I mentally complained to myself as I stubbornly stomped up the stairwell. After what had seemed like an eternity, I had made it to the end of the stairs but was on the ground trying to regulate my breathing.

I reached our apartment door and I shoved a hand in my pocket looking for the house key. Once I had grabbed hold of it, I struggled to put it in the keyhole thanks to the heavy bags when I realized something was off.

The door was already opened.

I carefully pushed the door open, worried about the fact someone broke in but I instantly calmed down at the sight of Mom's work shoes. I set down the bags as I rubbed my sore forearms.

I walked into the house quietly and it had been just the way I had left it. Confused, I slightly tilted my head as I checked the time on the oven. It was two hours before Mom's shift ended. She wasn't supposed to be back just yet.

"Where is the package while I'm asking nicely?" I hear an unfamiliar man's voice say down the hall in a room.

My heart drops for a second and I quickly hide behind the kitchen counter as I grab a knife from the drawer.

"I don't know," I can hear Mom's muffled voice coming from her room.

"Bullshit!" The man screams and I could hear Mama grunt from what sounds like a slap.

I need to get to her now. I mustered up all my courage as I quietly tip-toed to my Mother's room with my heart beating out of my chest. I gripped onto the kitchen knife as I took deep breaths in and out.

The door of her room was slightly opened so I tilted my head and peered into it. Mama was on the ground in between two large men with bulletproof vests and handguns as if she were a threat.

Mama was in her blue nurse uniform with a light grey cardigan wrapped around her. Her dark, curly hair had been tied up into a messy ponytail as she glared at the man with her brown eyes. Her eyes looked like a kaleidoscope when the light reflected off of it at different angles. They were full of life and love.