A Lonely And Hopeful Soul

Meanwhile, somewhere along the countryside, in a small town, the evening finally cast her dusky gown.

Esther welcomed the Amber glow radiating from the moon above her. Sitting alone inside the once-grand garden of the Calderon mansion, she felt more alone than ever. It is the time where slower thoughts arrive, moments when with open eyes, her brain becomes an empty horizon. Feeling the soothing breeze of the night, she became absorbed in the music of crickets, letting the gentle energy of nature wash her aching heart.

Perched on the only usable bench, she raised both legs and folded them towards her chest. She looked up at the blanket of stars that reached infinity.

For years, the gnawing grief kept her awake at night. What went wrong? How could things turn out the way they did? Questions upon questions piled up in her head as the years went by, but the answer remained elusive, like the rarity of the exotic flowers blanketing the entirety of the garden. Sitting there alone, misery is written all over her face.

Gen, my poor, poor Gen she murmured, almost choking on her tears. Her body began to shiver, as the cold gust of wind cradled her old wrinkled skin.

Two days and Esther's allowed but supervised visitation in the psychiatric hospital will come, oh how she longed for those days, days where Gen's presence is enough to wash away her agony.

Though Esther can't help but wonder if the girl—no, she should say, woman, even remembers her as she stares mindlessly with empty eyes at her every time she comes to visit. Does Gen blame her, hate her? Esther reasoned that sending Gen to the institution was the best course, not that she had a say, to begin with.

The court willed it, but Gen's pleading voice, her face streaked with tears, arms outstretched towards Esther on the day of her verdict remains fresh just as it did seven years ago. She turned her back on that crying girl and allowed justice to prevail, but the question remains, does Gen blame her?

Esther dropped her leg from the confines it was in and headed towards the mansion, throwing a final glance at the star dotted sky, she entered the house and walked towards her bedroom. A place that seemed more like a prison. The walls are filled with pain, regret, anguish, and of course, endless sleepy nights with the torturous music of her tears.

Dawn broke, yet Esther remains awake. No matter how she shifted, positioned her body, or endless calming tea cascading from her mouth to her throat, sleep remained foreign. She looked at the clock on her bedside table, it showed three forty-five am. Esther gave up and sat down.

She absent-mindedly willed herself towards the rocking chair positioned near the window.

Silently moving back and forth, she closed her eyes and retraced the events that consumed their lives.

Nine years ago, the morning she went to town and found out about Gen's boyfriend leaving town for college, Esther arrived in the Calderon mansion only to find Gen laying inside her bathroom floor, in a fetal position, face contorted and her breathing shallow.

Esther walked up to her and crouched down near her leg, she tried to lay a hand on her arm, but Gen jerked away, fear prominent in her eyes.

She opened her mouth and murmured something incoherent, Esther leaned over to hear her, but Gen had closed her eyes and passed out.

Esther, filled with fear from the panic which steadily crept through her body, carried the girl out of the bathroom and placed her on the bed. She took it upon herself to clean the girl. Her blood and dirt-stained clothes clung to her body like a second layer of skin. Her arms and legs streaked with dried blood and mud, crushed the old housekeeper's heart.

Esther, with her hands shaking, needed every ounce of courage within her to rid the girl off of her clothes. She cleaned her body with a wet towel, put on a new pair of pyjamas on her while wiping the stubborn tears that kept falling from her old and tired eyes.

When finally the girl was washed and fully clothed, she walked out of the room and headed for the kitchen.

Mindlessly, the housekeeper went on with her daily chores, pushing all her worries, questions and fear aside. She convinced herself that everything Gen was doing now or experiencing, was due to the sudden departure of her boyfriend Mike.

But when afternoon reached its peak, Esther once again heard a scream. This time, it was feral and louder. She ran, ran as fast as she could, arriving in front of the girl's room she twisted the knob, but to her surprise, it is locked.

Like a bolt of lightning Esther ran to her own room and took the spare keys inside her drawer, then hurriedly ran back upstairs, but to her confusion, she found the previously locked door half open. Esther carefully walked towards it, like a hunter would when stalking its prey, with her heart hammering on her chest, she pushed the door wider and stepped inside.

She craned her neck from left to right searching for Gen and found her standing beside her bathroom's door. For a brief moment, Esther felt an immeasurable fear creep up inside her, where it came from remains

unknown to her, but concern rid her of said emotion when she fully took in the image before her. Gen was gawking at something on the ceiling, her arms out with palms forward, her body shaking from head to toe.

Esther watched, bewildered as the girl crazily screamed at the ceiling.

Stay away from me she yelled furiously at her chandelier, don't you come near me she screamed again. She sidestepped to her right, eyes still fixed on the ceiling.

Ahhhhhh the girl screamed, her outstretched arms quickly wrapped around her shoulder and she fell on the floor. Stay away from me Gen cried out again, her words still directed at the ceiling, but this time, her tone was faint and low.

Please, Esther heard her beg.

Despite the scene before her, the old housekeeper remained rooted in front of the door, horrified by the episode.

Nooooooooooo... Came a loud yell, and that pushed Esther's numbing feet forward, she wrapped her arms around the girl's shaking body on the floor. She held her for god knows how long until her shaking subsided and breathing even.

She carefully pulled away but kept her arms on the girl's shoulder, she stared at Gen but failed to hold her gaze. Gen kept staring at something past her. Esther glanced back but saw nothing. She looked at the girl again, this time her eyes held immense fear. The housekeeper tilted her head to the side, and with furrowed brow asked Gen what was wrong. The girl did not respond, instead, she closed the small distance between them and buried her face on Esther's chest.

They both stayed that way until Esther's leg screamed with pain. The old sticks that kept her walking for the past years are not as strong as they were before, nor does it have the capacity to withstand the lack of movement required in their current position.

A car honking brought Esther back from her reverie, she had kept her eyes closed all that time failing to notice the rising sun, casting a rosy hue across the sky.

Honking...

Honking...

Esther released a frustrated sigh and got up from her chair, she wrapped a shawl over her shoulders muttering words of irritation to whomever it was making noise at an early hour.

"Yes, yes, I'm coming" she yelled.

The honking persisted. Esther quickened her pace and opened the front door, clearly irritated. "What do you want?" Esther asked angrily.

A woman, the same age as Gen, whom Esther held great resentment for stepped out of the car.

Esther's eyes widened with the promise of death. "Lovely," she muttered in disbelief. The housekeeper's anger spiked, with her fist clenched on both sides, she sprinted towards the woman. You, Esther, yelled, before slapping her unwelcomed visitor.