The War - Chapter 4

I hugged my mother. Her flimsy white hair brushing against my right ear. Her face feels cold despite of the summer's heat. Perhaps it was her age, or maybe the breeze. Then, she softly whispered onto my ear.

"Welcome home, dear"

Her voice. I had not heard her voice for five, long years. Hearing her voice welled my eyes with tears. I softly sobbed and I hugged her even tighter. She was tapping my back, signaling to me that I hugged her too hard. I wiped my tears off and began pushing her wheelchair home.

The way home was both a touching and eerie moment. It was touching in a sense that it reminisced me of my town, after I left it for five years. The buildings, the sights and sounds, the people and the sceneries. I thought to myself, reminding myself that I had left this village for five years. And yet not much had changed.

It was however, also, eerie in a sense that much of the buildings were then destroyed. Some of the buildings were even gone, flat on on the ground. One of them was my friend's house, Errick. What's left on the spot were rubble and debris. It was horrifying. It was also eerie in a sense that I could still feel the fear and worries of the people living here during the war. The atmosphere was different. There was an ominous feeling there, as we walked.

And another thing as well. The silence of my mother. She did not speak a word at all on our wat back home. Aunt Lucy told me she was most probably tired. Tired from what? I wondered to myself. With her wheelchair, I was shrouded with fear that she was not the usual her five years ago. I was wondering if something was wrong with her throat, thus her silence.

As we reached home. I was happy. I was happy to see my house, still in one piece, not even damaged by a scratch - except for its colour's change. I thank God for everything. My mother, my house, and my life.

I opened the door of my house and pushed my mother's wheelchair slowly beside out dining table. Aunt Lucy was preparing tea and I offered to help her. But my mother called me up and asked me to sit beside her.

"Talk with me, I have lots of things to tell you" she said.

And that was when I had the biggest shock of my life.