Short Breaks 1-20 - Complete

The Scent of Tears

7x7x7 Writing Prompt: Pick the 7th book on your shelf, turn to chapter 7, and write down the 7th sentence. Close the book, then write.

Part 1. (Part 2 is the next chapter.)

~~~

The scent of tears was such a shock, her foot let off the gas once more. They smelled like the ocean after the rain. It was a familiar smell.

She had to slow down before her own tears came. Just as the world began to swim, she braked the car to a stop on the side of the road.

Deidre.

Her beautiful little girl, gone now some three years. Yet, sometimes the pain was still as sharp as it was that first day.

Deidre's tears had always smelled like the ocean, diluted by the freshwater rain, cooled by the wind blowing over the surface. She always cried deeply and then, as if the sun had returned on the empty beach, so did her bright smile.

She'd pat your hand because, unlike her, you would still be sad, and then she would skip away, the moment of pain forgotten and lying abandoned at your feet.

If you were lucky, you wouldn't pick it up and put it in your pocket to save for later.

Karen was never very good at that. She had quite the collection of "Crying Deidre" memories. But, always, always, they were followed by that smile and that made everything okay.

Until the day it wasn't.

They'd found out she had the tumor when she was four. It was, as is common, around the cerebellum and, in her case, situated in such a way that made it inoperable. They'd tried everything; chemo, radiation, proton beam therapy, even some clinical trials. Every time there was hope, and every time those hopes were crushed.

At the age of seven, she'd finally had enough and had asked to stop treatment. Karen was shocked that her daughter had known exactly what that meant; she was going to die. But, she wanted to really live, if for a short while, happy and "like a normal kid", rather than endure even more medical treatment.

They'd gone to Disney World and the Grand Canyon, eaten ice cream every day, sometimes even for breakfast, and lots and lots of pizza. Mushroom had been her favorite.

Karen sniffled and wiped her face with the ever present tissues from her purse, the tears having fallen in fat drops into her chest. She took many deep breaths until she was no longer shaking and let out one final sigh. It was time to go on.

She pulled back onto the road, her lone car the only one in sight for miles. It seemed a metaphor for her life. John had left shortly after Deidre had died. In truth, it had become only their daughter's illness that held the marriage together in the end. Karen wondered briefly what he was doing with himself; they had no need to stay in touch and so she didn't truly know. She hoped he was happy.

The car ran smoothly, and she turned the music up. She forced a bright smile, trying to take in the lesson from her brave daughter, but it didn't really help. She couldn't just drop her pain. So, instead, she hugged it close, a counter to Jimmy Cliff's "I Can See Clearly Now". She continued until she reached her home, a lovely cottage on the beach where she could sit and smell the tears.