Mother Has Come Back

 

It has been twenty years since I last saw her. I told her to meet me here at the sand box. It was the last place I remembered seeing her. I was only five years old.
I positioned myself on the far side of the sand box so I can see her coming. There is a fence around the play yard and the gate is at the far end. I hear high heels walking along the outside of the fence and I look up. She's here. She sees me and starts to wave. I watch her as she walks along the fence. It takes a few minutes to come around. My heart is beating loudly.
I notice she has on a aqua blue pant suit and high heels. And she is carrying a clutch bag under her arm. A pearl necklace on and some bangles bracelets. Her hair is cut short and curly. I remembered her hair being longer and tied back with a barrette.
The school yard is full of children running around playing tag. A few children run between us. I got to my feet to go over to her and as I do I dropped my bag and it falls opens. As we both bend down to pick it up she sees the stuffed bear I had in there. Holding it she says. “I gave this to you before they took you away.”
With all the children playing in the yard I didn’t hear her. I said “what?” As I took the bear from her and held it close to me like I did twenty years earlier. I notice she is crying. She is saying something, but I can’t hear with the kids yelling and all the emotions of the moment. Many nights I fell asleep holding onto the bear. The bear had been my only link with her. It looked quite tattered and had lost one eye.
Suddenly a flood of thoughts went though my mind. I remembered having the same nightmare over and over it was about the man that took me away. His face was mean looking and he smelled of pipe tobacco. As he grabbed my hand and held it tight I screamed for her I remembered hearing her yell “I’ll come and get you.”
All of a sudden everything is quiet and I can only hear her words as she says “I ‘m here baby.” It was just like twenty years had evaporated. She starts to fiddle with her bracelets as if they are to tight. She drops her bag and opens her arms. I felt myself going into her arms and smelling the same smell years ago roses water cologne. As her arms go around me I hear the bangles louder than before. They remind me of the clock tower bells in the school yard where I had gone to live.
“All these years I needed you. Why did they take me away?” I ask crying
“Because I was one of………” At that point the school bell rang I couldn’t hear her words.
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