Everyone looked solem. Eye contact was avoided. Everyone was wishing the whole ceremony would end soon. I wanted to hold her hands but her hands clasped on her chest were cold and unfeeling. The priest gave his sermon and the coffin was lowered into the earth. Gone..., Aunt Mary was gone.., she had left us. How I wish, I could tell her how much I love her but she was gone. If only I had listened to her but I was too obstinate too full of myself to realize that she had wanted the best for me.
"Sofea, dear Aunt Mary has sent us an email and she said that she will be visiting us next Friday and she will be staying for a week. Now go to your bedroom at once and clear rhe clutter in your room. We will put in an eztra bed in your roon because your grandparents staying in our guest room, she will have no place to sleep except in your room. Now be a good girl and..."
I did not wait for my mum to finish. Not Aunt Mary that horrible old maid. Why doesn't she leave me alone? Aunt Mary was my mum's godsister. She was jilted once by a man who stole all her savings and since that she decided she would be a spinster all her life. She claimed that no man could be trusted, all men are liars and beyond redemption. She even looked at my father with disdain and constantly warned my mum not to trust my father. She was also constantly nagging me for the way I carried myself that I was clumsy instead of being lady-like that I did not have any dress sense and I did nit know any etiquette. I hated her interfering ways.
"Why is she here, mum?" I queried my mother.
"Oh! As you know, Aunt Mary is rich and as she has no children of her own, she wants you to be her goddaughter. Once you have completed your high school, she wants you to go to Australia and stay with her and study in Monash College there. Oh,how nice, isn't it?
No, this cannotbe true. I will not go to Australia. I protested to my mum. But it fell on deaf ears. I willnever be that spinster's goddaughter. NEVER! I decided to pack my things and move to my best friend's house to stay when everyone was busy welcoming Aunt Mary. I would wait for her to go back to Australia then I would move back home. I would never accede to and accept my mother's request. I knew she would threaten to disown me if I did not agree. To save all these ( I knew mum would use everything to blackmail me), the next best thing was for me to move to my best friend's house.
When Friday came and everyone was busy with preparations to welcome Aunt Mary, I quietly took my bag and slipped away tomy best friend's house. I did leave a note for my mum to tell her that I was in a safe place and would return once Aunt Mary had returned to Australia.
My best friend's house was fantastic, it was huge with many rooms plus there was a swimming pool and a huge larder food. It was a paradise staying in her house unlike our small cramped house. There was no need to visit the library because there was a huge library in the house. We would spend our days in the house either frolicking in the pool or indulging ourself silly with the wide arry of food or keeping up our intellectual pursuit with books.
On the fourth day stay in my best friend's , the door bell rang, "Ding, Dong...!" The butler opened the door and in came none than my Aunt Mary.
"How do you know that I am here?" I queried Aunt Mary.
"Sofea, your mother is very sick, you have to come home at once!"
I was filled with panic and remorse. My mother must have worried herself sick when she found that I was missing. Without a second thought, I packed my things and followed Aunt Mary home.
As I was approaching the house, I saw my mum standing at the verandah waving at me. I was filled with rage. How could they have used this excuse to lure me home. I broke out of Aunt Mary's grasp and ran across the road intending to catch a cab. But I did not see an approching vehicle heading straight towards me. I could here my mum screaming and the next thing I knew I felt someone giving me a hard push to the side of the road and saw Aunt Mary land limply onthe grass verge wih blood oozing from her head, I was too shocked to move. I could only sit there taking in that horrible sight of Aunt Mary gasping for breath. I could not take the severity of the situation and blacked out immediately.
When I woke in the hospital bed, I asked my worried mum what had happened to Aunt Mary. My mum could only shake her head. I was told that even as she gasped her last breath, she told my mum to attend to m instead of her. Her will was read out a few days later and I was to inherit all her wealth.
I was filled with a deep sense of remorse. I thought the worse of Aunt Mary but she had always loved me. If only I had let go of my prejudice and learnt to accept her, it would have made a difference to her life and she would have been happier.
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