Steemit Challenge s28wk2 : Remembering Through Healing

The next part of the story

The evening sky outside was slowly turning dark blue, and the old house in the village was immersed in a strange silence, as if every brick in the house was still mourning the absence of Tina's mother. Tina turned off the kitchen light and came to the veranda, standing by the grill. She saw a light mist gathering over the rice fields in the distance, the smell of the pond in the air. It felt like her mother had never left this house; she just couldn't see it.

Suddenly, there was a sound of the door slamming from inside. Tina looked back in surprise.

Rahim, her younger brother, was standing by the door. Tina said
"Aren't you going to eat? Why is it so late?"

Tina smiled faintly. "It seems like the nights have become very long these days."

Rahim came and stood next to Tina, “When I see you, it seems like you are fighting with yourself. Mother is gone, but why did you punish yourself so much?”

Tina lowered her eyes and said, “Because I think I was not there for her in the last moments. Would she have forgiven me?”

Rahim’s voice lowered, “Mother was not a person who would hold anger against anyone, you know that.”

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As soon as he finished speaking, a soft rustling sound suddenly sounded in the air. An old, dry letter fell over in the flower pot kept next to the balcony. Tina curled up and picked it up. I have never seen this before! The paper had turned yellow, but the letters inside were still clear.

“Tina, the day you read it, I may not be by your side,

But remember—everyone makes mistakes. Even if you were not there, my love was by your side.”

A tear rolled down Tina’s throat, “Mother… you understand everything.”

Rahim read the letter and looked at Tina, “See? You created your own guilt.”

Tina nodded gently and said, “Maybe so.”

But just then—
A sound came from inside the room; this sound was not the sound of a lizard, nor the wind, like someone opening a cupboard. Both of them went inside the room in surprise.

Mother’s room.
Where no one enters.

A cupboard door was half open in the lazy light. Mother’s saris were hanging inside, right next to it—a small red box.

Tina took the box in her hand,
feeling a strange pressure in her chest.

Both of them froze as they opened the box.

Inside was a small gold ring,

an old handkerchief stained with turmeric,

and an envelope.

Rahim whispered to Tina, “Open the envelope.”

Tina's hands were shaking, but she opened the envelope and continued to write inside.

“For my child Tina,
If you ever feel like I'm angry with you, remember, my anger was actually fear. You're going far away, and I didn't know how to hold you back.

But I always wanted you to build your own life, walk your own path.

I don't care if you come back or not, but you're mine.
That's the truth.”

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Tina suddenly knelt,
All the words seemed to disappear into the air; only the paper of the letter trembled with the tremors of her hands.

“Mom never blamed me…” Tina whispered.

Rahim put his hand on Tina's shoulder.
“Mom let you go because she knew you were looking for your own light.”

In the silence, Tina felt the pain in her chest soften a little, as if someone was hugging her.

Then Rahim said in a low voice,
“I had to tell you something…”

Tina raised her head at this. “What?”

Rahim hesitated, a strange sense of guilt in her eyes.

“The night before Mom died, she told me,
“If you want to come back and stay at home, then I should tell you that Mom was proud of you.

"You left too, and started your life anew."

Tina gasped in tears
“Why didn’t you tell me until now?”

Tears welled up in Rahim’s eyes,
"Because I was afraid you would leave us again."

“You were always brave, and I didn’t want you to go out on the road alone again.”

“Rahim, Mom wanted to set me free, and you wanted to hold me.”

He smiled softly.
“Their love was different but true.”

Just then, a breeze entered the air again, and the curtain swayed as if someone was watching silently, contentedly.

Tina said slowly,
“Maybe Mom is still here to teach us both that love means holding on and letting go.”

Rahim nodded and stood up.

And for the first time in a long time, Tina felt a kind of peace inside her,
something she hadn’t felt since her mother’s death.