Fallen Petals

Chapter I

I have very little memories of my mother, as I was very young when she died. I remember that her favorite color was blue. I remember her delicious homemade pasta. And I remember a necklace that she wore around her neck.

It was a large, blood-red crystal, and it hung from a silver chain. In all my memories of her, she always wore her necklace. Whenever she felt anxious, she would fiddle with it. Towards the end of her life, she fiddled with it quite a lot.

I remember the day she died as if it happened yesterday, rather than 15 years ago.

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Mommy laughed as she wiped the spaghetti sauce off of my face. I loved the sound of her laugh, it always made me want to laugh too.

"You silly goose!" Mommy smiled as she gently scrubbed at my cheeks. "You're supposed to eat the spaghetti, not wear it!"

I giggled and tried to squirm away. "But I did eat the sketti Mommy!" I squirmed away and nearly toppled off the counter.

I woke up screaming. "Mommy!" My mother was in my bedroom almost instantly. She looked around the room frantically before rushing to my bedside.

"What's the matter Melanie?" She asked as she knelt down. Her hands were on my shoulders and her caramel brown eyes stared deeply into my jade green ones. She looked so frightened that I started to cry. "Melanie. Baby, what's wrong?" She shook me gently.

"M-Mommy I had a b-bad d-dream!" I stammered out as I threw my arms around her neck. I could feel the panic slowly ease out of her body as she pulled me close.

"Oh baby," she whispered. "You had me so afraid." She gently rubbed my back and swayed slightly to help soothe my fright. The chain of her necklace was cool and soothing on my cheek.

"Mommy, can I have some water?" I rasped out, suddenly parched. She gave me a tired smile and scooped me up.

"Of course baby." She settled me onto her hip and carried me out of my room, down the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen. She sat me on a chair and crossed the kitchen to get my favorite sippy cup. I watched her every movement as she filled my cup with cold water and screwed the lid on tight. She scooped me back up and placed me on her hip again, and carried me back upstairs to my bed.
She sat me back down on my bed and pulled my blanket up over my lap before she handed me my sippy cup. I drank the cool water eagerly and snuggled down into my bed. Mommy tucked my black hair behind my ear and gently stroked my cheek.

   I slowly drifted off to sleep. I dreamt of the puppy that lived down the street. I dreamt of Daddy, who Mommy said died fighting for our country. Mommy said I had his eyes. I dreamt him as a knight in shining armor with jade green eyes. I woke up a few hours later to Mommy shaking me gently.

   I whined and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Mommy smiled down at me and gently lifted me from the bed. I leaned heavily against her. She gently removed my pjs and helped me into jeans and a shirt.

   "Mommy," I whined. "Where are we going?" She sat me back on the bed and began putting on my socks and shoes.

   "We're gonna go visit my friend Jamie." Mommy said as she scooped me up. I was confused. I had never heard of Jamie before.

   "Who is Jamie?" I asked as I leaned my head onto her shoulder. I inhaled the smell of her flowery perfume.

   "He was a friend of mine and Daddy's." She carried me downstairs and sat me on the couch. "I have to finish packing Baby, so why don't you watch Treasure Planet and eat some Cheerios?" She picked up a baggy full of Cheerious and pressed a button on the remote.

   I watched the movie as I ate my cereal, completely enthralled. I hardly noticed the many trips Mommy made up and down the stairs, to and from the car in the garage. By the time the movie ended, Mommy was ready to leave. As the movie ended and the words took up the screen, I turned around on the couch to tell her the movie was over.

   She was walking back and forth in front of the garage door, playing with her necklace and talking quietly to herself. I slid off of the couch and ran over to her. I threw my arms around her leg and squealed, "I love you, Mommy! Is it time to go visit Jamie yet?"

   Mommy let go of her necklace and smiled down at me. "It sure is. Why don't you go get into your carseat? I'll make sure everything is closed and turned off here."

   I gave her a big smile and hurried into the garage. It took a couple tries, but I managed to open the back door so I could climb into my carseat. I buckled myself in, pulled my favorite blankie onto my lap and began to play with my favorite stuffy, a gray and black kitty named Myu.

   Mommy walked in and shut the door to the house behind her, before pressing the button to open the garage door. She opened my door to make sure I was safely buckled in.

   "Is my little pipsqueak all nice and safe?" She said as she poked my nose. I let out a shrill giggle of delight and hugged Myu to my chest. She paused for a moment, before unhooking her necklace and holding it in front of me. "I want you to have my necklace, okay Melanie? I know you'll take good care of it." I was speechless, I had never seen Mommy without her necklace before.

With wide eyes, I included my chest strap and pulled my arms out so I could lean forward. Mommy moved my long black hair out of the way so that she could clasp the necklace together. I slowly sat back into my seat, completely in awe that she would give me this beautiful necklace.

 

  After securing my chest strap, Mommy gently stroked the crystal before standing back up and shutting my door. My hand immediately went up to the necklace and began to play with it, just as I had seen Mommy doing. I watched her, in silence as she walked around the car to the driver's seat. She opened her door and climbed into her seat, she looked back at me and smiled, but it didn't seem like a happy smile. She seemed sad.

   Then she turned on the radio and I heard Complicated and immediately my worries disappeared. As Mommy drove I sang along to the radio and played with Myu. I didn't pay very much attention to what we were driving past, I had seen it all before.

   We hadn't been driving for very long when there was a flash of dark red light and a loud BOOM. I looked up from Myu anxiously and let out a scream when I saw that the car was flying through the air. There was a sickening crrrnnnch and then everything went black.

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   And that is Chapter I! I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to drop a comment!

- Ash