The Sky Cried With Her

Silence.

His forehead creased. “Your mother is already gone. What would she say if she could see you like this? Soaking wet.”

Hera Leandra's eyes blurred once more.

‘Yes, she might scold me that I’m going to get sick after this. But it’s better if she scolds me a thousand times more than to not hear her voice anymore.’

She felt her nose clogged as she continued to cry, stifling the noise.

It was without effort since the sky seemed to cry with her.

She still could not believe that she had to say her farewells without her mother hearing her.

When she didn’t cry during the service, they thought she had already accepted her mother’s death.

It was the opposite of how she truly felt.

Years ago, Helayna had suffered an illness they were unable to find a cure of.

To others, it had been a long time coming. They were expecting for her death sooner or later.

But the young girl, Hera Leandra remained hopeful. Up until the day after her mother ceased breathing.

They said that usually, close friends and family members sit continuously for one to three days near the body of a loved one who has died. In other cultures, they even wait for a week before they bury the dead.

But her mother died yesterday at dawn, and now they were already burying her.

This was her father’s arrangements.

“Why?” She hiccuped.

“Why what?” Leonard picked up cigarettes from his breast pocket and a lighter. “Ah! Damn!”

He cursed when he got himself wet when the umbrella tilted back as he lit his cigarette.

“Why what?” He asked once more after fixing the umbrella above his head and blew smoke.

“Why is she buried so soon? Couldn’t we wait for another day or two?” She asked, grabbing a handful of grass.

“Your mother has already suffered enough and needs to be finally laid to rest and be at peace. Her only family is you and me, there’s no reason to make a vigil for so many days.”

She didn’t care as well if her mother’s colleagues would come to see her one last time. A lot of them had already distanced themselves as soon as she became sick.

But she would have wanted to look at her mother before she couldn’t anymore.

She was not afraid of her dead body. She was her mother after all.

She looked peaceful and beautiful. She was at least thankful for the mortician to give her the dignity she deserved.

But she was disappointed with her father’s decision. ‘Couldn’t he have waited a little bit more?’

Several days before her mother passed away, she couldn’t reach her father who had left for a business trip out of town.

She had asked him several times when he would be able to visit her mother but he would keep repeating that he has to keep going to work so he can continue to pay for her mother’s expenses and still put her to school.

The only person who accompanied her every time she came to visit Helayna was her neighbor who was working as a nurse in the hospital where her mother was admitted to. But when that neighbor had quit her job and moved out-of-state, she began to make the visits alone.

During this time, she had also taken part-time jobs to save up enough money for other things. Leonard had a set budget for her, saying that if she doesn’t need it or if she needed it but can still borrow it from somebody else, then he wouldn’t spend money on it. Her mother’s bills were already high enough.

She had no complaints.

Even at a young age, because of her mother’s condition, she was forced to mature faster.

Hera Leandra had learned to be content with what she has and to be responsible instead of being a burden to her parents.

She couldn’t let her grades at school fall since it would make her lose her chances at earning scholarships and it would also disappoint her father and would cause her mother to worry and feel guilty for not being able to monitor her as a mother should.

Helayna would welcome her with a bright smile every time she visited her in the hospital, hiding the pain her body felt.

Helayna would listen to her daughter talk about what happened at school, always hearing good news that even made her wonder if her daughter had any time to have fun outside of school activities.

On some days, her daughter would tell her that she had to leave earlier than usual since she had to stop by at a library to do some research. She didn’t know then that these were the times when her daughter went to work. She would tutor a few younger students there before she would head to her next job as a hostess in a restaurant. Fortunately, both jobs pay good money.

There were times when her father was unable to buy the prescription on time, and she used her own savings to buy it for her mother when he could not be reached.

In a way, this made her feel glad that she was able to do something for her mother. She was able to buy her mother’s favorite desserts and bring her flowers to brighten her mood.

Now that she remembered all of those times, she realized that her father was barely there during the times when her mother was close to her death.

No flowers. No desserts. Barely any visits and always in a rush to leave.

And now, he was even in a rush to bury her forever.

Anger rose from her chest.

“Why, Dad?! Don’t you miss Mom? We won’t see her again, why did you need to bury her so quickly?! You haven’t even given me time!” She screamed, trying to overpower the loud rain sounds.

Silence.

Her blood boiled.

She turned around and looked up at him as he towered over her.

“Why?! Why aren’t you saying anything? Where were you all this time?! When was the last time you saw her?!”

He turned his gaze away.

“I–I can’t believe you.. Do you even love Mom?” Her voice croaked as she hoped that he would say yes.

“Of course I did.” He said, still gazing away from her.

‘Did? DID?! Have you moved on already?! This soon?!! ‘Her eyes widened as she looked at him, trying to see if he felt pained.

She couldn’t understand what was going through his head.

All she felt at this moment was anger, disappointment and was still in denial that this was her new reality.

The sky roared as rain continued to pour.

“Get up. Your mother wouldn’t want you to get sick.” He said to her.

She turned to look at her mother’s grave again and touched the wet soil.