Let me begin with myself, I am nobody interesting, but my life is very. I am an orphan adopted by my aunty and uncle years ago. However, I came to know this only when I turned 20. How I came to know is something you shall know later. But to start with, let me tell you more about my parents.
I was 19 when I started to notice turbulence in the family. My dad was not around home most of the time. He was busy with work. My mom was quite occupied herself, yet she made some time for me. She liked me. I always felt that affection of hers. She loved hiking, trekking, and traveling. She was adventurous.
Dad not being around, mom used to take me on a weekend trip mostly. I enjoyed my trips. Mom looked super happy when we used to step out. We had done so many trips after I turned 18. Two years of fun and adventure had brought mom and me very close. I was taking care of her so much that I didn’t know where to stop.
On that Friday, when mom returned home early evening, she screamed loud from the main hall. Her voice reached my room as she asked me to rush to the main hall. I went running towards my mom and stood in front of her. Mom asked me if I was interested to go on a weekend trip?
I, as always, was curious and without hesitation, I said yes and rushed to pack my stuff.
An hour later, we left the house and started our journey. Mom was driving. She was good at it. Hours of driving had bored her. I had just turned 20 and was very enthusiastic to drive. I requested mom to drive our car. After minutes of contemplation, mom agreed and pulled over the car under a tree.
The road was dark, there were no street lamps. Car’s headlights were on. Mom opened the door and stepped out of the car. She allowed me to drive while requesting me to maintain a safe speed.
As I sat on the driving seat, she was still outside of the car. She screamed and started to scratch her back. She was yelling. She said something had bit her. She was in pain.
I asked mom to step inside the car so we can rush to a shelter and see what had happened. About 30 minutes were left to reach our destination and mom was restless. Her pain had aggregated. I drove to our hotel and rushed to our room.
We always stayed in a single room but slept on different beds. But this hotel had a king-size bed. As soon as we entered the room, I was quite surprised. But mom with her pain, didn’t even bother.
The moment we entered, she asked me to make myself comfortable in the room and she rushed to the bathroom removing her footwear. She latched the door from inside while I was unpacking the luggage.
Minutes later, I heard mom whisper through the slightly open bathroom door asking me for her nightdress. The smell of soap and hair cleanser had already filled inside the room. The hot shower she had taken had made the room moist.
I asked her if her nightdress was in her luggage bag? Mom said, yes. I opened her luggage bag and saw her evening dress and a saree. As I moved the top layer of clothes in search of her nightdress, my fingers brushed on a soft fabric that I had never felt before. Curiously, I grabbed it and pulled it out.