1 I

There she stood under the heavily pouring rain, staring at the shiny mahogany casket. The casket in which her late kind mother lays within.

It all happened on the 20th of November 2002. It was a typical cold rainy morning.

The daughter opened her eyes as she woke up to the sound of rain gently hitting her window gently and replacing the silence of her room. She glanced at her bedside clock to see that it was five in the morning.

She groaned as she lazily got up and did her morning routine which consisted of taking a warm shower and having a warm cup of coffee afterwards.

As she finished her warm soothing shower, she got out. She noticed the usual sound of ruckus that echoed through the house from the kitchen was nowhere to be heard. She figured her mom slept in this morning.

She then went to the kitchen and made her a warm cup coffee as well, the way she liked it.

She walked to her mother's room and knocked on the heavy door, she didn't hear a reply indicating that her mother was still in deep sleep.

She turned the door knob slowly, careful not to make a sound. She went in and saw her mother piled up in the sheets.

A small smile made it's way to her face as her mother's figure piled up like a tiny baby in the sheets looked heart-warming and adorable.

"Mom, it's time to wake up", she said in a low voice as she set the cup down on her bedside table.

"I made you some coffee" she said as she sat down beside her on the bed but still, there was no response, she didn't even move an inch.

Something was off, she sensed it as she felt fear strike her veins.

As scary thoughts started filling up her head, she shook her mother a little more violently but there was no response.

Fear gnawed at her heart as she feared the worst, she cautiously put her hand on her mother's chest as she heard her own heart beating in fear of the worse.

And then her world crashed down. There was no pulse.

She couldn't believe it so she checked if she was still breathing wishing for this to be a nightmare but it wasn't.

Her hands were slightly shaking as she pulled away from her mother as she moved away from the bed. That's when reality dawned on her.

She fell on the floor as sobs raked through her body. Tears flew down her cheeks like waterfalls, she couldn't believe it.

After gathering herself, she hurriedly grabbed her phone from her room and dialed the ambulance.

On the second ring, someone picked up.

"Emergency services, how may I help you ?!"

"I think my mother's dead", she said in a cracked voice.

"Ma'am, listen to me, could you check for a pulse ?!" she asked.

"No pulse, no breathing, I don't know what to do, I don't know if she's dead or not" she replied in panic.

"Ma'am I need you to calm down, where do you live ?!" she asked.

"56 Baker Lane" she replied.

"An ambulance will be there shortly" the lady said.

"Hurry please" she replied as she she hung up.

She sat on the bed grabbed her mother's cold hand tightly, wishing for this to be another nightmare. A nightmare that will end as soon as her mother holds her in her warm embrace.

Soon, she heard the ambulance outside and ran outside. She came back in with the paramedics.

A few minutes later, they gave her the same answer she already knew deep inside.

And this brings us to this moment, the moment where both her young brother and herself stood staring at their mother's casket.

She closed her eyes as she felt her now hollow heart yearning to hear her mother's voice one more time, to hear her mother's laughter one more time, to feel her mother's warmth just one more time.

The presence of the 200 people behind them who loved their mother dearly, made their heart ache, knowing that this time, it wasn't a celebration they were attending, it was her funeral.

They all knew her as a wonderful woman who was always there for everyone. A woman who always helped when she herself was struggling, a woman who always shared her love with everyone, a woman who always sacrificed for others no matter how she felt during the time.

She was always the source of laughter in a person's bad day, she always made smiles appear on people's faces, she was the ray of sunlight that appears after a rainy day.

And now,

she was gone.