❝ roses ❞

mon

"son!"

"yes?"

"come here!"

he quickly ran downstairs.

"what is it?"

"i found this in the doorway, this must be yours"his mom handed him a bouquet of roses.

"where's this from?"

"mhm, it's probably from your girlfriend."

"huh? i don't have any—"

"that ain't surprising at all"

tues

"son!"

"you got roses here!"

"what?"

"this secret admirer of yours got some weird taste of guys."

"aren't you glad you raised a very handsome man?"

"ew"

wed

"son!"

"mom?"

"your roses!"

"again?"

thurs

[ doorbell ringing aloud ]

he immediately swung the door open."oh cool, rosesㅡwait, what?!"

"who is it?"

"this is starting to creep me out."

"what, why?"

"that's one fast gal."

"have you seen anyone?"

"nope"

fri

"mom, i've received another one"

"i can't believe it"

"huh?"

"is she wasting her whole garden of roses for some ogre?"

"ouch, i thought you love me, mother."

sat

"i have to stop receiving this."

"why? don't you like it?"

"last night i dreamt of you getting suffocated by these thorns."

"oh cool"

sun

[ morning ]

he got up early and peeped through the door to catch that secret admirer in action.

"she should be here any minute now."

the doorbell rang but only the face of his beloved mother showed up through the peephole. he swung the door open in such disappointment.

"w-what the hell is happening here?"

the roses were there but there was no sign of his mother.

"am i still asleep?" he confusingly asked while pinching himself.

his heart skipped a beat when he heard his name being called. it was his sister who is just about to close the gates. she has a luggage with her that confused him more.

"bro, are you alright? you look pale."

"mom," was all he could say.

her eyes saddened after hearing it. "i told you, she has already passed away."

"she's alive! i saw her just by now!" now it's his sister who paled and dropped the handle of the luggage.

"she was with me this whole week! s-she was smiling while teasing me! those roses in the trash were the ones she handed over telling me it was from a secret admirer!" his sister was tearing up while she checked those roses in the trash.

she read every letter written with the bouquets only to find out it was the roses she bought for their mother when she came to visit her in the cemetery in province. she grabbed them all and slapped it onto his brother's face.

"i don't know how it all ended up here but one thing's for sure: it's not our mom who is with you when i was not around." then she sobbed uncontrollably. "s-stop it. stop any of this..."

he moved closer and hugged her tightly in his arms. he pity himself for being fed up with melancholy to the point that he creates a scene where there was him and his mother. "how it all felt real."

"how you felt real." she hugged him tighter, and buried her face on his chest.

a moment of silence came after as he tried to let it all sink in. what does she mean by that?

"i knew this would happen," she whispered. "i-i should have just stayed for a while."

"mhm?"

"you're slowly disappearing."

"w-what?" instead of checking himself out to prove, he gazed at her.

if only he could alleviate the pain she is feeling right now.

"may you rest in peace with our beloved mother. i love you both."

everything turned black in his vision as he cried. "we love you too."

he had never imagined he would see his sister in such state.

worry consumed him.

staying is much more painful than leaving. he hope she survives.