I saw mum lying on her side on dad's pillow, and the cat
was right next to her. Both were sound asleep, napping, and the scene
looked so serene.
Dad has been
gone for a long time, yet mum still makes his side of the bed, and
sometimes she would sleep there. Like she was doing before me. It's
clear she missed him, missed his scent, his smile, his memories. I saved
the pillow case he last slept on before he was rushed to hospital. I
placed it, and some strands of his hair, inside the box container of a
tie that he never used. Folded up, the pillow case fit right in.
Even after so many years, she missed him.
I stared at them for a moment, taking in that beautiful scene, and committing it to memory.
Then it hit me. This is not real.
Sadness came flooding through my body, and I felt myself shaking from sobs.
This is not real. For mum herself has been long gone.
Both mum and dad have been long, long gone.
