After

The lamp post flickers in the darkest of the night as she was walking down the alley way that leads to her home. Wearing her padded jeans and a white tee put on with a leather jacket and the clanking sound of her boots whenever she took a step, she fearlessly walks. Not minding the cold dark night, she took a turn and entered the already opened gate. She stopped abruptly in front of her door as she heared the loud conversation of the two people inside the house. She took a step back and turned her back at the door as she lead her way to the porch and looked up. "I can make it." She thought carelessly then she jumped in and reached the top of the porch and made her way in, through her bedroom's window.

She threw her body on her bed and she felt her tiredness creeping in. Closing her eyes, she can still hear the shouting and arguments below. She was always haunted by the memory of her parents fighting. There comes a point where the fight gets worst, throwing things at each other. Hearing the breaking sounds of the ceramic vases displayed in their living room. And sitting on the corner of the room with hands on both ears, eyes shut closed, whimpering and asking for them to stop. But they never did. Each day. Each passing day, she would witnessed how her mother would cry and beg and how her father slapped her mother's face. How her mother would tell her to run upstairs and lock the room. Everyday. Every damn day she would witness those scenes and just cry in the corner of her bed.

The bed creaks as she decided to got up. She got tired of hearing all those fightings. This time, she's putting this to an end. She ruffles her hair as her head ached in sync to the beating sound that her father makes. She opened her bedroom door with a bang and turned left to the hallway. She can hear her footsteps gets louder as she go down the stairs and nears the living room. In there, she saw a horrific view. Her mother's arms that once protected her are full of bruises. Her lips that once kissed her head was bleeding. Her body... oh, her frail body. It was curled up as if it was turned into a ball. "It never escalated into this.", she thought.

Heaving a heavy breath, her hands curled around the first thing she touched. She lifted her skinny arms and swung the fire iron towards the back of his father. She swung it once, then twice, then thrice. She, then, let go of the fire iron as she saw how her father slowly crumbled in place. She sprinted towards her mother and enclosed her skinny arms around her mother's frail body. She thought it ended there but her father grabbed her shoulders and spun her around in an instant and landed a punch through her gut. There she saw the eyes of her father, fuming with anger and eyes red from endulging and drowning himself with drugs. Clutching her gut, she curled into a ball as her father lands a few kicks towards her. "Why? Why did you became like this, Father?", she thought.

Enduring all the pain, her thought drifted during the days when her father would smile gently and put her up on his shoulder. For her, it felt the safest place in the world. She felt like flying as she spread her arms like wings as her father would run around while holding her thighs firmly, not wanting to let go. She would hear her own giggle as her father makes some airplane noises. Eventhough she can't see his face, she would feel the cheeks of her father as it rises along with the loud but gentle laugh. She would also hear the rustling of the grass that went through the dawn as his father's shoes brush into it. She also remembered how her mother would open the sliding door that leads outside while holding a bowl of cut up fruits. How her hair would act out and escape from behind her ears and fall elegantly in her face. She vividly remembers how her mother would smile in a fine line and how her eyes would automatically became smaller. She also remembered how you would run towards the bowl of fruits, getting a headstart on picking your favorite ones.

"Ah, I remember now.", as if it became an instant trigger to why this is all happening in the first place. It was all different back then when you are still with them. The moment you press the light switch, the lighted room became dark. It all changed. That was before, and now, this is after. She, then, heard the faint sound of siren from afar, now getting clear and loud. She saw how her father panic frantically as the knocks on the door go wild. A second later, the door flew open and there entered three police officers pointing their guns towards her father. The scene was fast and blurry. It all happened in a flash. When she looked back, she saw how her father was lied down, flat to the ground. His hands cuffed at his back while screaming still like a wild boar caught in a hunt.

She looked around her and run towards her mother. Your smiling picture caught her eyes. "This is where it all began.", she said while looking at your picture with a sense of hatred, with a tinge of pain, mixed with longing and shared with guilt. An officer approached her, "Your daughter did a pretty good job, calling us early and all that." Then slowly tapped her shoulders and left through the door. "What happened?", her mother asked her, still confused. "I did what I could not have done back then." She said, still looking at your picture.

*****

*9:04pm*
"Hey! At least stay for one more hour."
"No, I'm sorry. I can't."
"Oh c'mon! Half an hour?"
"Fine."

*****

*10:43pm*
"911, what's your emergency?"
"Sh-she's not waking up."
"I'm sorry, who's not waking up?"
"My sister! She's not waking up!"
"Can you please explain your situation, Ma'am?"
"I-I just got home then I came to check my sister. Th-there's pills everywhere and I got scared so I tried waking her up but she's not waking up! She's not waking up no matter what I try!"
"Okay, calm down and tell me your address. Rescue is on their way."

*****

*10:58pm*
"Are you the sister? I'm sorry, Ma'am. It's too late for her now."
"It's for you, Ma'am. We found that letter in the bedside table."

*****

For You,

If you are reading this, then I guess it's all over now.

-Fin