The Truth

Where It All Began

Life, she figured, had a unique way of making you believe you had no problems ahead of you, then BOOM! Just like that, one tiny thing can turn your life completely upside down.

"Lola! Take your sister outside please!" Her mother hollered down the hall. Lola groaned, stretched, then padded to the kitchen towards her mother who was cutting vegetables.
"Shouldn't you be doing that?" Lola whispered, snaking her hands around her mother's waist. Her mother stopped what she was doing, wiped her hand on her apron and hugged her back, hard. Lola could feel the beat, beat of her mother's heart, and for one tiny moment, Lola blissfully forgot all her problems and believed for just that tiny moment, everything was just right.

Lola's sister walked down the stairs, jolting both of them back into reality. Lola immediately pushed away from her mother's embrace, and her mother caught the memo. She hastily went back to chopping vegetables, and Lola mentally prepared herself for the problem that lay ahead.
"Come on now, Amy. Time to go outside." Lola tried her soft voice, but it didn't seem to have any effect on her sister. She refused to put on her shoes, looking fearfully at the door.
"I don't want to go out. What if there are monsters? What if there are dragons that would jump out and scare us? He told me, he told me..." Amy bursted out, rocking back and forth on the steps.
Lola resisted the urge to sigh. After all, it wasn't her fault her sister was reduced to such a fearful mental state.
"He said nothing, Honey bunny. Come on, please just get to the door. Just for me. Please?" Lola pleaded. Honey bunny was Amy's favourite name when she was little, Lola hoped that by using it, it will make her come to her senses and take that big step towards the breakthrough.
It seemed to be working, though. Amy took a deep breath, raised her right foot, and stepped towards the door. Lola didn't have to look to know her sister's face was filled with fear.
"I don't want to go. Please, Lola, please don't make me open the door. He told me that if I did, there will be big monsters out there ready to eat me!"
"Well he told you wrong. There are no monsters in this world, Amy. You should know that."
Too late she realised her mistake. Those four words were the same four words Amy's kidnapper had told her, and by saying that, she had just disregarded everything that had been progressing. Amy shuddered, then started backing away from Lola. Lola tried to reach out to touch her sister, but she jerked away at the touch.
"Don't touch me!"
With that, Amy ran from the room and slammed the door in the process.

Nina, who had stopped chopping vegetables long enough to hear her two daughter's bickering, winced at the door that slammed. Another failed attempt. She wiped her hands on her apron, took a deep breath, then went to talk to Lola first. When she reached the hallway, she saw Lola sitting on the steps, her head in her hands. She sat beside Lola, and she paused long enough to look up at her.
"What did I ever do wrong in my life to have the one thing I could fully love taken away from me?" Lola whimpered, subconsciously leaning into her embrace. Nina smiled warmly, trying to give light to such an emotional, dark situation.
"Nothing, dear. Absolutely nothing. The man that took your sister deserves to be punished for what he did." Nina said it with such conviction and determination that her daughter looked up in shock at her expression.
"I'm going to talk to Amy now, okay? Just try to forget everything that happened today; there's always tomorrow." Nina lightly suggested, getting up from the step.
Even though she knew both of them would never be able to stop thinking about it long after they had gone to bed.

Amy rocked back and forth, back and forth in her bed, her mind filled with thoughts. So many she could hardly make sense of it all. She heard the door open slightly, and knew it was her mother. Amy took her eyes off the door and back to rocking on her bed. Her mother went to sit next to her.
"Amy, this is in no way your fault." Her mother started. She couldn't seem to form her words, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "I know this is hard, mommy knows it too. We will try to make sure the bad guy who took you away will never reach you again." Her mother's words fell like rain on glass; long enough for it to look at, but it still went on deaf ears. Promises meant nothing if it couldn't be kept, why should she believe anything her mother said?
When she didn't say anything, her mother sighed.
"I know you're angry with mommy. I am angry too. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what you had to go through-had to face." Her mother sat in silence for a little while longer, before getting up and closing the door behind her on her way out.
Sorry couldn't solve anything, too.