Tears From Heaven

• Nina Riddell, Grade 7, Beaufort Secondary College
• Short Story
• 2001

Finalist in the 'Zapped! 2001' competition

The wind whispered through the trees and blew my hair over my face. The moon cast an eerie light over the town. This was my last chance. Somehow I knew it was.
My thoughts drifted back to the day that it all started.
I was shopping in the mall. I had seen a weird shop. Unlike the others with their colorful signs and promises of discounts this shop was old, and almost bare.
But I walked in anyway letting the musty smell of the shop waft my nose. Staring around I saw the small pendants that hung on the wall and the old blue desk that teetered on the uneven floorboards at the back of the shop. Last of all my eyes rested on the book. It was big and old. I walked over to it and slowly wiped the dust away to reveal the heading. “Spells” it read in bold writing. I turned the cover and started reading, lost in my own world.
I jumped as a cold, bony hand gripped my shoulder. I turned to see an old lady peering back at me. “Hello Dear” she said and smiled at me, “Can I help you?” she continued, “that book only costs $20.00.”
“I-I’ll take it,” I stuttered, shoving the money in her hand as I hurried out of the shop.
Later, at home, I sat on my bed waiting for Mum to come back. She had been sick for a couple of weeks now. A cough, I think. But she was terribly white. I had finally convinced her to go to the doctor.
I jumped as the phone rang. It’s impatient noise filled our apartment.
“Hello” I said into the receiver. “Hi honey! It’s me.” Mum replied in a tired voice. “I’m at the hospital. I think I might be here a while, seems that I’ve caught a bug. Do you want to come down later? I thought we could have a talk.”
“OK, I’ll be there.” I assured.
That night I hurried down to the hospital.
Mums room was dull and dreary. I peered over at Mum. She did look sick, worse than she did at the apartment. My heart was filled with worry for her. If Mum got really sick I don’t know what I would do. I don’t have a father, not anymore anyway, and I’m only a child.
Mum stirred and woke up.
“Darling I’ve got Leukemia. The doctor said that it’s too far advanced to be worth treating. They said I’ve only got a month to live. I’ll come home tomorrow and make the most of my life.”
I set a bed up next to the window in the living room, where mum could see everything. It was horrible near the end. Mum drifted in and out of consciousness for days, never quite taking in what was going on around her. She mumbled to herself for hours at a time. In a world of her own.
I cried at the funeral. Great big, wet tears. I was so angry with mum for leaving me. Leaving me alone. Alone. People came up and told me they were sorry. People I didn’t even know, people who didn’t really care.
That’s why I’m here, at the edge of the town with the book of spells. Lucy, my best friend, and me had tried a few spells before mum left. They hadn’t worked of course, we hadn’t expected them to. But somehow I knew that it was going to work this time. I knew.
I opened the spell book and peered at the writing.
The wind howled and clouds drifted over the moon, blocking it from view. I recited the spell loudly praying to god that it would work.
‘My life here is not what it seems,
Lies are truths and truths are dreams,
Bring my loved one back to me,
‘Cause’ I will lover her more than thee’
The moment I finished I knew it would work.
The sky opened up and poured rain. Thunder boomed and lightening flashed, and through it all I could see her, my mum.
She was alive again.