A Son's Haunting Encounter

It was the beginning of Fall, a season of dry leaves and eerie branch sounds, fanning the leaf litter.

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He watched as the tree moved in a side-to-side motion and how empty the street was except, of course, for the leaf litter that already filled the street and made it home.

He looked back in his room when he heard a sound in the kitchen.

"Anyone there?" he asked as though he expected a response where of course, he lives alone.

He poked his head out more but the sound subsided, causing him to look back at the view with a smile.

The noise came again from the kitchen but was a little louder and more continuous this time.

"Anyone there?" he asked no one in particular as he withdrew his hands from his pocket to grab an empty old bottle of Hennessy just for self-defense.

He took his step gently and turned the corner to the kitchen quietly. At first, he didn't see anything until he jumped up at the suddenness of the huge rat that crept over his leg.

"Geez!" he let out angrily before laughing.

"I didn't know you were so cranky!" he said to himself before checking the kitchen out again.

This was his mother's house and it had been empty for as long as 5 years. He has not been in the right mental state to sell the house ever since his mother died. He needed the cash and the only means to get it was to sell the house.

Lucas looked everywhere again for the hundredth time since he got there before he grabbed a broom and began to clean, throwing out a few of her things.

After he was done, he sat still without moving a muscle for a while and soon, he drifted off to sleep. He had been sleeping for a few minutes when he suddenly opened his eyes.

“Lucas!” he heard his name. He sat up on the sofa and looked around but didn’t see anyone.

“Lucas!” the voice called again, a little clearer than before, and now, the voice sounded familiar.

“Mum?” he called back even though he still could not see who was calling.

“Yes, baby? It's me. I’m right here!” the voice said and he looked around and still could not see anyone.

“Over here!” the voice said again and he looked at the entrance leading to the living room, there, he saw his mum standing with her legs crossed and a beaming smile peeking at the side of her lips.

“Mum? Is that really you?” he asked in disbelief and his mum laughed sexily at him with a nod.

“Yes, baby. It's really me. Come here!” she said with her hands stretched out and like a kid, he ran into her arms, holding her tightly as though his life depended on it.

“I miss you so damn much!” he said and her head rested well on her chest.

“I missed you too, baby!” she retorted as she shifted her head back a little to look up at his face.

They stood like this for a while without moving and his mum pulled out of the hug, walking to the sofa.

Lucas shut his eyes to stay for as long as he could in the moment, resting his head on his mother’s chest and a single teardrop rolled down from his left eye.

“Life has been so tough after you left. Why would you leave me, mama?” he sobbed but he got no response from her.

“Mum?” he called again and still no response which caused him to open his eyes and then he realized he was holding the chair and not his mum.

This broke his heart more and he could feel himself drifting away again. He was already trying hard to adjust to life without her but now, he had no idea if he could do that anymore.

Lucas fell to his knees and cried out loud, letting out all the pain that he felt like a little kid. He yelled out loud out of pain and anger. “Why must it have been my mum? Why must she die?”

He was never really on speaking terms with his mum when she was alive but he had no idea things would be this tough for him like this after she was gone.

After soaking his face in his own tears, he stood up from the ground and continued with what he was doing, cleaning and taking out all of her things.

Now, he had finally realized that she was dead, gone, and never to be seen again. There was nothing left for him.

Life was so cruel to him. Life failed to follow the law of gravity in dealing with him and now not everything that goes up comes down.