A Better Life

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ciscopa on rgbstock.com

Like a kid in a candy shop, she had eagerly prepared herself for this meeting, hoping for the best, and now, she stood there nervously with her arms open, and tears filling her eyes as she nodded her head in response to the girl’s question, “Are you my mother?”

“Y- Yes. I- I –“ She swallowed nervously, trying to rid her throat of the lump that made talking difficult, while holding back the tears that threatened to spill over. Dropping her arms, she looked into the girl’s eyes and held out her right hand, “I’m Regina, your mother.”

Grasping Regina’s outstretched hand, the girl replied, “I’m Amanda.” Amanda couldn’t help staring at this stranger who had given birth to her, as Regina silently stared also, both awkwardly trying to memorize one another’s features. They couldn’t help but marvel at their resemblance. “I have so many questions,” Amanda blurted out as they sat down.

“I’m sure you want to know the circumstances surrounding your birth, and why I gave you up.” Amanda nodded, as Regina leaned forward, grasping Amanda’s hands in her own, “And there’s so much I hope to know about you as well. Before I start, I want you to know that I gave you up because I wasn’t able to care for you, not because I didn’t want you, and not a day goes by that I haven’t thought about you, wondering where you were, and praying you were happy.”

“How old are you? You look so young.”

Regina smiled nervously. “I’m thirty-three. I was thirteen when you were born.”

“Wow.” Amanda was shocked.

“I had a crush on one of my brother’s friends, Ty. He was eighteen, and he told me I was pretty. He paid attention to me, and I was so hungry for love that I was willing to do anything he wanted, even though it was painful and left me feeling dirty afterward. I was just a girl, and he realized I was pregnant before I did.

“I was so young, and naïve enough to think we would live happily ever after with our baby, but he was furious. He was angry because I got pregnant, insisting that I abort you, but I refused. That made him furious, and he beat me up, so terribly that I was sure he had killed you, and that we would both die…

“When I was taken to the hospital, my parents found out about you. Later, they beat me too, so badly that I was hospitalized again, then sent to foster care. It was crazy, but I wanted to have you, so I would have one person in this world who loved me.

“It was so hard to give you up, but I was only thirteen, and I didn’t want you to in foster care. I wanted you to have a better life than mine. So, even though it broke my heart, I gave you up for adoption.” Regina wept openly as she asked for Amanda’s forgiveness…

© 2014
Cheryl A. Showers

LIGHT AND SHADE CHALLENGE

Challenge – Monday 5th May 2014

This post was written in response to the Light and Shade Challenge.  The rules of the prompt were to write a 500 (or less) word post using one or both of two prompts. One was a picture prompt, (at the top), and the other prompt was a quote (below). My post is exactly 500 words, and I chose to respond to both prompts…

Optimism is like a spiritual magnet – Anna Massey

This story is also a continuation of a story that I began last week. To read Part 1 of this story, click the following link:

The Meeting