The Sun Will Shine Again
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George Hatem, Grade 8
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Short Story
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2017
My mother always used to say to me "The sun will shine again". I never really understood her words. When I was a child, I was so confused that I would have a puzzled look on my face trying to figure out what this saying meant.
As I sit, basking in the light and warmth of the hot summer sun, I find myself drifting away, listening to the sweet lullaby of two birds in the nearby tree. My thoughts begin to wonder as I wearily play with a strand of pulled grass.
I begin to replay my entire life to myself. I watch through closed eyelids as I remember my childhood bedroom. I can feel the soft blanket that covered my bed, I remember my two playful beagles, Chipper and Spencer, I remember my high school graduation and how happy and fulfilled I felt as I walked down from the podium. And I remember my father and his funny stories.
Ah, my mother ... I remember the soft touch of her hand as she traced her nurturing fingers through my blonde hair. She had a smile that could light up an entire room. Just at the mere thought of it, I found myself smiling at that very moment. But my smile suddenly turned into a frown as my face shrouds itself in my stone- cold hands. My mother was gone, deceased, dead.
I was sitting alone in this lush field because it was the place when I had my first memorable memory of her. She was holding my hands, smiling her breath-taking smile, as she swept me of my feet with such grace that, just for a moment time stood still, it was just me and her enjoying the precious time we spent together.
My body released a sigh as I remembered sitting at my mother's death bed. I was so young merely at the age of eleven, too young to understand the awful extent of the unforgiving situation. I squeezed her hand so tight, until my fingers turned dark purple. Then she opened her deep blue eyes gracefully and slowly, for the very last time, just long enough for her to mutter the unmistakable sentence "The sun will shine again". Then, only seconds later I was forced to pry my hands out of my mother's stiff and cold and yet unusually smooth head.
The thought of the experience was enough to send chills down my spine. I came back to reality, as I quickly darted to my feet to discover my son was standing next to me gazing right at me. "He has never seen me so calm and serene before," I thought to myself, "Maybe I should tell him why I'm here." I walked over to him hoping that he will listen to my story but I quickly got distracted while I was gazing into his light green, beautiful, innocent eyes. I finally understood the words that my mother used to tell me "The sun will shine again".