The Crystal by Jones M (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

want to!" I said with a hick in my voice, tears threatening to clog up my vision once again.

"But you have to! She's dead, Emery!" Erick shouted, shocking me on the spot. He instantly regretted having said those words. His eyes widened as he covered his mouth with a hand.

"I'm sor--" he started to say, but I didn't listen to the rest of it. I decided to take off from the room.

"Emery!" Selena screamed at me, and I heard footsteps approaching my form. I stopped suddenly and turned to face her.

"How do you do it?" I asked with a look of disbelief. "How are you coping with the death of your parents? How do you go out and smile even though you lost important people in your life?" I asked as I slowly slid myself down on the floor. I placed my hands on my face as I cried silently.

Selena's parents were buried immediately through their daughter's orders. They were however buried on earth because Selena lived there for most of her life. I didn't attend the funeral because I was busy crying for my mother, and I suddenly felt like a major a-hole.

"Emery, I am finding it hard to accept they are gone," Selena said as she slowly slid against a wall and sat down next to me. "They were awful parents. That made it easier to say goodbye to them. But even though they were bad, they were still my mother and father. Telling them goodbye will give you closure."

"But I don't want to--"

"Emery," she cut me off, "you aren't the only one hurting here. I loved your mother. In fact, she was a better mother than mine! She took care of me like I was her daughter, and I am grateful about that. I know she would want us to live on and succeed in our lives. She wouldn't want us to mope around and cry for her. She would want us to move on for our sakes."

I wiped off the tears that escaped my eyes, thinking over what she said. She was right.

"Okay," I said. Even though she had said that, I knew it would be hard for me to move on.

She slightly smiled before standing to her full height. Then she extended a hand to me. I grabbed onto it as she helped me stand. She embraced me in a hug, patting my back. Then she retracted.

"Let's go," she said, and I followed her.

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"Fellow witches and friends, we are gathered here today to mourn the loss of our fellow witch, Susan Davis," a priest said as an introduction to the funeral ceremony. It was being held in Crystalia at a graveyard located three miles away from the castle.

The funeral looked like any other. Many people in Crystalia had come to attend the service. Everyone was situated on white plastic chairs with me and the royal family sitting at the front. The day was cloudy and unexpectedly warm. My mother's corpse lay in a coffin at the front, situated a couple of feet from where I sat.

I zoned out in my sad memories as the ceremony progressed. The priest continued saying the introductory sentences while I looked around. My eyes zeroed in on a group that I barely expected to attend.

The Ordinary Brothers had attended the funeral.

My eyes trailed on each member. They didn't look sad, but they didn't look happy either. I guessed they too were affected by her unexpected passing. Or maybe they were there to show support.

I shrugged the thoughts off before turning my attention back to the ceremony. I still found it hard to digest the fact that I won't be seeing my mother again. At the moment, I realized I had not only lost my mother, but I also lost my father. 

I was a complete orphan.

Then people came and started giving their eulogies. The speeches were short, and they were positive, like how my mom helped some of the people defeat erwiches, and how she assisted in the castle and in the lives of fellow witches. 

Soon my turn came.

Nobody applauded as I got up from my seat and slowly made my way towards the front. My fingers were clammy, and my heartbeat increased, but not because of nervousness. I was dreading having to go see my mother in front of me. I was the last one who had something to say about her, and after that, we would talk to her form before she was to be buried.

Once I reached the podium, I took deep breaths. Someone handed me a microphone, but I didn't bother thanking them. I wanted to say most of my eulogy before I surely started to bawl my eyes out.

"Hello. I'm Emery Davis, Susan Davis' only child," I silently sniffled before I continued. For a moment, I felt unsure of what to say.

"The first time I met my mother. I don't remember much because I was a baby, but as I grew up, I found her beautiful. She was a kind and wonderful woman. She was wise and trustworthy.

Call it childish, but I hated school. I remember this one time when I was eight years old. I was told to go to school, but then I didn't want to. I would have rather spent time with her at home because I would miss her. I told her that, and do you know what she told me?"

No reply.

"She told me that it was important I went to school. She told me it was necessary I gain knowledge or else I would have been a stupid head. Then I started crying because I thought she called me a stupid head. Then she told me she hadn't, but I would have been had I not gone to school."

People laughed at the end of the statement. I had given a sad smile before I continued, "There was also another instance when Selena walked into our lives. I'd rather not go into the details that brought her to us, but from what I could gather, it was a great moment for me. My mother showed kindness towards her. She even gave her space to stay at our home in New York, and from that day, I got someone who I could consider my sister.

Those are just some of the precious memories I hold dear to my heart that involve her. It's sad to think I wouldn't have them again. At a time like this, I wonder what would have happened if she was alive. She would still be going to work. She would be coming home to see me. She would even be worrying about me going to college next month.

Overall, I would miss her. I would miss her presence, her pestering questions, her involvement in my life... I would miss her and the wonderful qualities that make her a loveable and important person in my life. She was the best mother I ever had."

There was applause for a short moment as I went back to my seat. Then it was time to give her our last words. Otherwise, the part I dreaded.

It was finally my turn. My last moment with her before she was buried under the earth. I approached her form, feeling something hard grasp my heart and making me find it hard to let go.

I finally reached her coffin and took my time to memorize her features before I said goodbye. My eyes danced across my mother's form. She had worn a white wedding dress, and she held a bouquet of yellow flowers in her hands. Her skin had significantly paled, and so had her blonde hair.

I stood rooted to the spot, trying to process that it was finally happening. I was going to say my last goodbye, and I would never see her again in my lifetime. Tears threatened to escape my eyes again, but I forced them back in.

I stared down at my mother, not knowing how to begin telling her how much I would miss her.

"Hi, mom," I found myself starting. Then I momentarily paused as a knot formed in my throat. I didn't want to cry until I was finished with telling her my goodbye.

"Just wanted you to know that Eva is dead. I made her pay for doing this to you, and I saved the witches from her."

My hands reached out to caress her face. The skin was cold, and I instantly flinched a bit.

"Remember that time you and dad got me a bike for my sixth birthday? I was happy then, and I loved you for doing that.

I'm not sure of what I'm supposed to do. You're gone, mum. You're gone, and I feel all alone in this world. How am I supposed to continue my life without you?"

My head dropped to the hands that were clutching the bouquet. I wished I could feel her hands caress my head, but that was impossible. She was gone.

Then I exploded in tears. My back shook as I heaved in sobs. Then I continued telling her about the memories we shared. From when I was an infant, my first day at school, my first day at high school, my graduation, acceptance into Princeton, getting a job...

Then I fell into an unexpected moment of sleep.

"Emery?" a voice called out. I gasped, shocked by the call. I knew the person. It was my mother.

"Mom?" I called out, searching for her form around me. I was only met by whiteness all around. But then, I saw her form approaching me. She had worn a white dress, and a smile graced her features.

Currently, her arms were stretched out. Without a second thought, I ran towards her. She enveloped me in a hug as I heaved in sobs. I felt her hand caress my head, urging me to be calm.

When we retracted from the hug, she stared at me. She frowned and then wiped the tears off my face.

"Don't cry, Emery," she said. "Everything is going to be okay."

"How will it?" I yelled. "You're dead! I can't believe this happened to you. I wish I didn't--"

"Emery!" she cut me off in a shout. I kept quiet, waiting for her to continue.

"I know that I'm dead. But that does not mean that you have to wallow in sadness when you remember me."

"But--" I went to say, but she cut me off again.

"Emery, life is a journey. I've lived mine, and it's time to live yours. I don't want you to spend most of it missing me. I want you to be strong and to have courage. I want you to be happy, not to drag yourself down."

"But I have so much to say."

"I know, Emery. But the most important thing to know is that it doesn't matter. If it's something bad you did to me, know that I forgive you. It doesn't even matter. Do not regret not doing anything in the past, my child. All that matters is that I love you, and so does your father."

I was quiet for a while in amazement.

"You met dad?" I asked. My mom showed me a smile.

"Yes. He says he misses you."

Tears started to form in my eyes again.

"Tell him I miss him too." Then my mother's hands wrapped around my form as I heaved in sobs again.

"This must be hard for you," she said. "But it is also hard for me. I'll miss you and always love you, Emery."

We retracted from the hug. I stared into my mother's eyes.

"I will miss you too, and I love you, mum."

She smiled a sad smile. Her form began to disappear before me, and the world around me slowly darken. 

I was back at the funeral ceremony. My head was bowed, and I found myself staring at my mother's face. It seemed like time had hardly passed since I slept. 

I then realized the dream was not a dream. If it were, I would have found myself on a bed. 

It was my mother coming to talk to me before she went to the other side. I smiled a sad smile before standing up.

"Goodbye, mum," I said as I faced her. Then the ceremony proceeded. I couldn't stay for the rest of it, and so I ran to the castle and locked myself in my room.

CHAPTER 21

Three months later

Emery’s P.O.V

“Get your ass out of bed!” Selena shouted at me, pulling off the sheets that had covered my form. I groaned in protest, trying to pull them back over