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My Last Walk Home

My Last Walk Home

Cerita Pendek · Emotional Realism
Oleh:  Late AutumnTamat
Bahasa: English
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11Bab
304Dibaca
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Sinopsis

Familial Bond

Plot Twists

Bias

After Death

Family Emotions

Regret

Mom said I needed to toughen up, so she made me walk home alone. "You're ten. Everyone else can do it. Why can't you? If you were even half as capable as your cousin, I wouldn't have to worry so much." I shook my head and signed, [I can't hear. Crossing streets isn't safe.] She gave me that look. Total disappointment. Then she walked off with my cousin, Sadie. What Mom didn't know was that before school let out, Sadie had stopped me. Said she was helping Mom make me independent. Then she snatched my hearing aid. Now the whole world was silent. I followed the crowd down the sidewalk. At a small intersection, a car spun out, horn blaring. Everyone scattered. Everyone but me. I couldn't hear it. My spirit rose above the street. Below, my body lay in a pool of blood. Mom... Sorry. I couldn't do this independence thing.

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Bab 1

Chapter 1

My left leg bent the wrong way. Blood kept spreading under me.

It had to hurt.

But I couldn't feel anything anymore.

"Someone got hit!"

"Don't move her! Wait for the paramedics!"

"Oh my God... she's just a kid..."

Voices came from everywhere.

I could hear again.

The driver stumbled out. He looked maybe forty, wearing a faded puffer jacket.

He rushed over, but his legs gave out. He dropped to his knees, hitting the icy pavement with a dull thud.

"I didn't mean to." He was shaking badly. "The brakes failed. I swear, I hit them. Pushed them all the way down, but nothing happened... The road was too icy."

Someone spotted my uniform.

"She goes to Eastview Middle! That's an Eastview uniform!"

A girl in the crowd was my classmate, Mia.

Mia leaned closer.

Her face went white.

"Mom, that's my classmate Vienna! Call her mom!"

Mia's mom looked shaken too. She got Mom's number from a teacher and called right away.

The second it connected, she rushed to explain.

"Ms. Dudley, Vienna's been in an accident. She's at—"

Sadie's voice cut in. "Aunt Florence, there's no way Vienna got into an accident. She's probably throwing another fit. I saw her after school, and she was super upset. She said you always make her do stupid stuff. She was already in a bad mood. She probably just doesn't want to walk home alone."

Mom's voice came through.

"What's she whining about now? Is walking home alone really that hard?"

"No, it's real," Mia's mom said quickly. "The driver's still here. There are witnesses. Please come right away. Your daughter is badly hurt—"

"Enough." Mom sounded annoyed. Painfully familiar. "Did she put you up to this? Are you all doing some little performance for me?"

Mia's mom went silent.

"What? Vienna's always been like this. The second I make her walk home alone, she gets upset and pulls something. She's faked being sick before. She'll try anything. Now she dragged all of you into it? All she does is lie and make excuses to be lazy, just like her father."

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11 Bab
Chapter 1
My left leg bent the wrong way. Blood kept spreading under me.It had to hurt.But I couldn't feel anything anymore."Someone got hit!""Don't move her! Wait for the paramedics!""Oh my God... she's just a kid..."Voices came from everywhere.I could hear again.The driver stumbled out. He looked maybe forty, wearing a faded puffer jacket.He rushed over, but his legs gave out. He dropped to his knees, hitting the icy pavement with a dull thud."I didn't mean to." He was shaking badly. "The brakes failed. I swear, I hit them. Pushed them all the way down, but nothing happened... The road was too icy."Someone spotted my uniform."She goes to Eastview Middle! That's an Eastview uniform!"A girl in the crowd was my classmate, Mia.Mia leaned closer.Her face went white."Mom, that's my classmate Vienna! Call her mom!"Mia's mom looked shaken too. She got Mom's number from a teacher and called right away.The second it connected, she rushed to explain."Ms. Dudley, Vien
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Chapter 2
The call ended.Mia's mom stood in the snow, phone still in her hand. Speechless.I floated above them, watching.Then I remembered Dad.Back when he was still with us.I was five. Maybe six.I could still hear then.Mom and Dad fought every day.Eventually, they got divorced.The day Dad left, he stood in the doorway and looked at me.Then he crouched and took my hand."Come with me, okay?"I looked back.Mom stood in the middle of the living room, clutching her apron so hard her knuckles went white.She wasn't crying, but her lips shook. Her chin too. Like she might break any second.Her eyes begged me not to go.She was scared I'd leave too.I thought if I went with Dad, Mom would be completely alone.So I said no.After Dad left, Mom hugged me so tight I could barely breathe."Vienna," she whispered, "you're all I have now."After that, she poured everything into me.Her expectations were simple.Be number one.She said grades were all we had left.She said
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Chapter 3
Whenever Mom went off like that, Sadie stood quietly beside her. Sometimes, she even spoke up for me."Aunt Florence, Vienna has it hard too. She can't hear well, so it's tougher for her to focus in class."It sounded like she was defending me.But every time she said it, Mom got even madder."Her hearing's bad because she did it to herself," Mom snapped. "If she hadn't been so stubborn that day—standing in the rain until she got sick—she wouldn't have lost her hearing."I just stood there, apologizing over and over.Promising I'd study harder.Do better next time.***When I floated home, Mom and Sadie were eating dinner.The food was still steaming.Sadie loved cilantro, so Mom had put it in everything.It was everywhere.Just like Mom's love for Sadie.I was seriously allergic to cilantro.The last time I accidentally ate some, my lips swelled for three days, and a red rash crawled across my neck.Mom took me to urgent care for meds, but still complained."Everyone
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Chapter 4
"Sometimes I wonder if you're even my daughter. How is your cousin so smart, and you're this stupid? Did the hospital mix you up at birth?"God, you're stupid."***After dinner, Mom did the dishes.Then she picked up her phone and called my smartwatch.But my watch had shattered in the crash."It's off." She gritted her teeth, a vein pulsing at her temple. "She did it on purpose. Turned it off just to make me worry. She's getting back at me."Mom, I wasn't trying to make you mad.But she couldn't hear me.She opened our chat, held the voice button, and spoke."Vienna, I'm telling you right now. If you don't come home, don't ever come back. There's no place for you in this house!"She sent it, then threw her phone onto the couch, her chest heaving.The more she thought about it, the madder she got.She stormed into my room.It was tiny.Just a bed, a desk, and a little bookshelf.Mom stood in the middle of it, looking around.Then she went to my desk, opened the drawer
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Chapter 5
But I couldn't feel the cold anymore.The ambulance arrived.Two paramedics jumped out and ran to me. They knelt, checking my pulse. My breathing.The younger one pressed his fingers to my neck.Then he looked up at his partner and shook his head.Still, they lifted me onto a stretcher, covered me with a thermal blanket, and loaded me into the ambulance.They took me to the morgue.A doctor called Mom.By then, Mom was dead sure I'd hired people to help me fake the whole thing, so she ignored every random number.She was helping Sadie with homework.Sadie had barely started seventh grade, but she was already doing ninth-grade work.I stared at her worksheet and got nothing.Quadratic functions. Similar triangles.The symbols might as well have been another language.Mom explained everything patiently, solving each problem step by step on scratch paper.Her voice stayed calm. Easy.Whenever Sadie didn't get it, Mom tried another way.I floated nearby, watching.It remi
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Chapter 6
Mom froze.A few seconds passed, then she laughed."That's impossible." She shook her head, almost calm. "You've got the wrong person. My daughter's just mad at me. She even shut off her watch so I couldn't reach her. How could she—""Ma'am," one officer cut in, "we wouldn't joke about this."Mom's smile locked in place."Please come with us to the hospital to identify her. There are arrangements that need your attention."Mom stood in the doorway in house slippers and a thin sweater.She hadn't even grabbed a coat.At the hospital, the doctor pushed open a door.Inside, a body lay on a steel table beneath a white sheet.He looked at Mom. "Please prepare yourself."Then he pulled the sheet back.Mom saw me.My face was pale. My lips were purple.My eyes were shut, with a few snowflakes still caught in my lashes.My hair was soaked and stuck to my forehead, a few strands clumped with dried blood.My left arm lay at an unnatural angle.The scrapes on my hand had stopped
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Chapter 7
Fast footsteps pounded down the hall.A man burst into the doorway in a black puffer, hair wrecked by the wind, panic written all over him."Vienna!"He dropped down beside the bed and reached for his daughter's face. His hand shook—and stopped midair."Vienna... Daddy's here. I came to see you..."Then he spun, grabbed Mom by the collar, and hauled her away from the bed."Florence!" His eyes were red, veins popping in his forehead. "I wanted to take her with me! Why wouldn't you let me?"Tears ran down Mom's face, but she kept her chin up."Let go of me!""I trusted you with our daughter!" Dad shook her with every word. "Is this how you took care of her? What did you do to her? I wanted to see her for years, and you never let me. Not once. You wouldn't even let me visit. Who the hell gave you that right?""How did I not take care of her? I fed her, clothed her, sent her to school. She was fine with me!""Fine? Then how did she die? Tell me. How did she die?"Mom's hair had
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Chapter 8
Mom's lips shook before she finally forced it out."She had a fever all night, and we didn't get her to a doctor in time—""A fever? What fever? Why did she have a fever?"Mom went silent."Answer me!""She was being stubborn!" Mom's voice climbed, like she'd finally found an excuse. "She had a fever and didn't say a word. Burned up all night, and I didn't know until morning. She was always like that. Keeping everything to herself, just like—"A sharp slap cracked across her face.The room went dead quiet.Dad's hand hung in the air, shaking hard.Tears and snot ran down his face, grief twisting every feature."You pushed her too hard. That's why she was scared to tell you she had a fever. You think I don't know you? You think I don't know my own daughter?""That's a lie!" Mom screamed. She lunged at him, pounding his chest. "How can you blame me? You left! You walked out and left me with everything! I raised her. Me! Did you ever take care of her? Even one day?"They start
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Chapter 9
"It's... Vienna's hearing aid...""Why is it in your backpack?" Mom cried. "Why is Vienna's hearing aid in your backpack? Answer me!""I was just doing what you said..." Sadie's voice shook. "You said Vienna needed to be independent. I thought if she walked home alone... even without it... she'd learn."Mom went still."So you took her hearing aid?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And sent her across the street alone?""I was only trying to help—""Help?" Mom's voice went shrill. "How did you help her? You helped her die?"She slammed the hearing aid onto the desk, rushed over, grabbed Sadie's shoulders, and shook her hard."Who told you to take it off? Who told you to touch her hearing aid? Without it, she couldn't hear anything! How was she supposed to get home alone? How was she supposed to cross the street? That car was honking, and she couldn't hear it! She wasn't ignoring it—she couldn't hear it!"Sadie's head hit the headboard with a loud thud. Tears filled her eyes.
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Chapter 10
She just lay there, eyes open, staring at the ceiling.On the third day, she finally got up.She went to my room and pushed open the door.Everything looked exactly the same.The desk drawer was still open. Pieces of my sketchbook covered the floor.My bed was still unmade, the pillow dented where my head had been that morning.She crouched down and started picking up the pieces.One by one.She spread the torn pages across the desk and pieced them together like a puzzle.Some scraps were so tiny she had to use tweezers, fumbling each one into place.Every time she finished a page, she taped the back with clear tape.She spent three days putting it back together. No sleep. No breaks.Her tears hit the paper, smearing the scarf on one snowman."Vienna drew so well," she whispered.Her voice barely made a sound.I floated behind her, staring at her hunched back.Her hair had gone white in just a few days. Before, there were only a few gray strands. Now both temples were w
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