Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

and the thing in fr ont of me sags its shoulder s. I feel a pang of guilt, to talk to my
Mum this way. No, it isn?t Mum. It is something else.
The thing r eaches out befor e I can stop it, and takes hold of my hand. It is a war m,
soft touch that spr eads up thr ough my body like a wave of shimmer ing light. I see
colour s of childhood, smells and tastes of delight and summer , ar guments and
laughter and the quiet, intimate moments that only small childr en know in the
ar ms of their par ents? the fir st exper ience of love at fir st sight.
I gasp, and the thing that is or isn?t my Mum lets go. I feel at the ver y edge of tear s,
and hot pinpr icks cr eep fr om behind my eyes. I swallow , and my lip tr embles.
?Mum??
?Yes, dear ??
?You?r e not supposed to be her e. You can?t be her e.?
?I?m her e, so long as you want me to be her e, dear.?
?I want you to, I never want you to leave. But you have to. It?s not r ight.?
?Right, love? I?m not sur e I follow.?
I tr y to gr asp for w or ds, though I want to hold onto her and never let go. I want to
stay her e at this table, sitting acr oss fr om Mum until the end of time.
?The night befor e you? w hen you w er e r eally sick, I tr ied to imagine w hat it
w ould be like w hen you w er e gone. To tr y and pr epar e myself. I w ent thr ough so
many differ ent ver sions of the futur e, but never one w her e you existed. I thought if
I could lear n to live w ithout you then, I could do it after you w er e gone.?
?But I couldn?t do it. And ever y time I left the house, to go to w or k or to pick up
the shopping, I thought might be the last time I?d ever see you again. I never
wanted to leave your side, not even for a moment. And I still miss you, Mum.?
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