This is the first time I am making a dedication. So, I dedicate this chapter to a colleague of mine, a friend, a sister... MuslimahKissar ❤️
Thank you for always encouraging me through your good words and ecstasy about my writings. :)
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As Maddox returned home that evening, he opened the old creaking door and was again greeted by emptiness all around. The place where he was standing could no more be called 'home'. His mother's absence made his house feel like a wooden box which was just large enough to dwell in.

He stepped into the house, his heart being weighed down by immense sorrow. He was feeling miserable since the time he gave his mother a last glance while she was lying on her hospital bed. Maddox remembered her painful words, that life was not meant to be easy. He also remembered the growing grief that his mother's eyes held as he sent her a last goodbye eye contact. He prayed to God, asking Him to end his mother's pain as it ripped his heart to see her in that state.

Maddox walked into his gloomy room and sat on his bed. He pulled out his small diary in which he used to scribble down his memories. His diary was his best listener when his mother was not around. As he opened the diary, his eyes fell on an old photo of Miranda which he had stuck in the inner side of the diary's front cover. Below the photo was written 'My New Bestie' in Maddox's childish handwriting. The little boy's eyes were again full of salty water, blurring his view. As the liquid fell off his eyes, his swollen eye lids burnt terribly.

His eyes were sore as he has been crying all along his way from the hospital. While he was in the bus, his constant sobbing made people glare at him in confusion. Moved by his grief, an old lady approached him and asked, "why are you crying little man?"

"My m-mother is ill. She is at the hospital," Maddox lamented.

"You don't need to cry my little man, you only have to pray. We can never fully understand the power of a sincere prayer. One honest prayer can eliminate all tears, all fears," the kind lady comforted him, each of her words carrying great wisdom.

In the darkness of his room, remembering the old woman's advice, Maddox kept praying, asking for his mother's pain to stop. He prayed for her good health to be restored. Yet, strange feelings swirled in his chest. He closed his eyes tight, pressing the diary against his chest, trying to comfort his own self.

He then opened the diary, again looking at Miranda's photo. Her face was the exact replica of Elisa's. Her long and wavy hair which appeared in the photo were no more there, but her almond-shaped eyes and her warm smile still made of her the most beautiful woman in Maddox's eyes. The little boy could not move his eyes away from his mother's photo. He was devastated by the way his mother's resemblance to his sister was not only limited to physical features, but was extended to their fate as well. Maddox only hoped that Miranda would not leave him like Elisa did.

Maddox could no longer hold his feelings. He wanted to share them with someone. He wanted to cry out. And it was heartbreaking for him to realise that the one with whom he used to share his grief was no longer there by his side. He grabbed a pen from his school bag and turned to a blank page of the diary to pour out his feelings onto the paper, but, he was short of words. No word could even describe what he was feeling at that moment.

All he could write was, 'I love you mum. I love Elisa too. But you told me, she is now surrounded by angels taking care of her. So, please momma, don't go to her. Stay here with me, because I am all alone. I have no one to take care of me.'

Maddox leaned against the wall by the side of his bed, allowing the memories to take over his thoughts. He remembered how each time he would cry after his sister's death, his mother would make him understand that she had to leave and that this was the only way to end her pain, "Elisa is in a better place now. She is surrounded by goodness and angels taking care of her. She is in a place where there is no pain, no illness."

Maddox broke out of his thoughts when a sudden loud banging was heard at the door. Someone was knocking at the front door furiously and Maddox rushed to open it.

Standing at the door were two men and an old lady who were all people from the locality. Maddox knew all of them but the looks on their faces were far from being familiar. He never saw any of them so upset. The two men hastily entered the house while the old lady, Aunt Martha, was weeping as he embraced little Maddox, holding him tight.

Maddox failed to understand what was going on. He stood idle, his heart thumping fiercely. He never faced such a situation before - people rushing around his house in panic, some people hugging him and mumbling words that made no sense to him.

"I'm so sorry," some of them said.

"Be strong," others added.

"It must be so hard for you."

"We are here for you."

"I still can't believe she is gone."

"She was only thirty. She was too young to die."

Maddox gasped upon hearing those words. I just hope it is not what I'm thinking about.

In a few more minutes, the crowd gathered in the yard grew bigger and some of the people entered the house.

"Where is Mr Howard?" one of them asked.

Maddox was about to reply that he does not know where his dad was when aunt Martha answered instead. "Evan called to inform me that Miranda was no more. He... he said that he got a call from the hospital, he went there to complete the formalities to bring the corpse here," the old lady wailed. "And...and he..."

Maddox could not hear the rest of the conversation as the feelings of disbelief were so deafening. He could not react to what he has just heard. He wanted to shout out, 'What's happening here? What are you people talking about? What happened to my mum?' He wanted to cry. But neither his words nor his tears could come out. They were sealed within his soul.

Even if he was standing amidst a crowd, Maddox felt lonely, he felt abandoned. All he could see was his world falling apart.