I smiled and answered each of her statement with repeated yeses, nods and giggles. She was more eager than I was and more nervous than I'll ever be. After all, her little girl has now grown up and ready for a life of her own.
"Oh, you'll need this, dear!" she exclaimed as she pulled out something deep from the closet. I stopped stuffing my already burgeoning bag and shifted my attention to her.
"What are those, ma?" I asked. She was engrossed with the box, touching it so carefully as I looked on. I waited, for it has been a while since she had shown such signs of nostalgia towards material things. It must be very important so I had to be patient.
"Take it," she said and handed me the box. She smiled sweetly. I felt the box tenderly as it was something she treasure.
It was coated with brownish red leather and the smell was as new as it can be. I remembered accidentally finding this box once, when I was little. I assure you that I got a good deal of nagging then.
She kept a lot of things in her closet, this mother of mine. She was peculiar in some ways but it was who she was. Now, she is handing her treasure to me. What a moment it was.
"What's in it?" I asked, curious but still having find not the courage to open it.
"Oh, it's just a little something..." she paused. Her voice trembled a little bit and I knew what was coming- tears.
I got off the floor and hugged her as tight as I could. She patted my back a few times before she broke off the hug. Sobbing, she continued, "It's something for you."
I looked at her as she struggled to smile in the sobbing.
"From whom?" I asked again.
"Oh, you question too much, Felicia," she said. She wiped off some tears and continued, "When I was your age...".
And there she goes again about how when she was my age, she got spanked repeatedly by her father who also sent her sleeping outside for asking how toothpaste were made. She must have been mighty annoying.
We chuckled loudly. I knew granddad was a hard man but never knew he was this hard. The laughing subsided and we locked eyes for a while.
"Felicia, you have eyes just like him," she said suddenly.
I knew who him was but he never did appear in my life. He left this world when I was three, or so they say. I had no memory of him. For me, he was just like figurative speech; a metaphor, a myth even, that I never knew what was true or false.
And so I smiled and continued suffocating my bag while she continued her stories about being at my age.
********
As I put down my impossibly heavy bags on the floor, I took a deep breath in this new home of mine. It was already evening. I sat down in the empty room, thinking of unpacking before the night blanket over the orange sky. Alas, I was too tired.
I opened the windows and took in a deep breath. Sure enough, it didn't had that tinge of green freshness in the air but this is something I had to get used to.
Then, I remembered the box.
Carefully, I pulled it out from the piles of clothes and stuff that I probably shouldn't have brought along. I opened its cover carefully. Dust flew around a little as I lifted the lid and the hinges creaked with it.
I stared at the box's insides for a good few minutes.
In it, I saw him. In it, was an instant photo of him and me. He was carrying me with such tender and love. I was so small then and his hands were huge when put into comparison with mine.
His hair was curly and whether or not it was brown or black, I don't know, for time has decayed the colour of the photo. I covered my mouth and sobbed.
"For little Feli." was written at the bottom.
In many years of obscurity and mythology, I felt him at that moment and he was real...
After many years of silence... He was alive today.
-End-
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