I Like: Being At Home part 1

I know I said that being at school is better than being at home, but that doesn't mean that I dislike being at home.

Besides, there is no place like home, right? Though for different people, there are a lot of meanings for home.

One might say it's a place where you can be safe, go back to, take shelter, spend time with family, and many other things.

So, what's home to you? To me, home is all of the above, but what's more, home is wherever I can go, open the door, and say "I'm home" with a big smile, then there will be someone waiting for me, saying "Welcome back", while returning my smile.

Well, I might sound like I never had problems at my home, but it is not the case. Every home will always have its problem, I had one that struck my family, and this one nearly ruined the place I call home.

*Story time*

One fateful night at a hospital, the cries of a child can be heard, signaling a successful birth, and that child is me.

Inside the soft embrace of my mother, tears fell down my cheek, but it was not only tears of joy, but also tears of sadness.

The reason for it, is that it turns out my father, just a few days before I was born, passed away due to sickness.

A few years later, I turned 5 years old.

Luckily, mother managed to get herself back together, although not fully. I can tell that she's still hurting inside, because every night, I can hear her crying alone in her room.

As a curious young child, I won't deny that I am very annoying, and adding to the pressure from the workplace, mother almost always hits, and punishes me out of frustration. But I never hold any grudges toward her, because I know it was my fault.

It has gone downhill since then, due to the pressures left, and right, she started demanding payback for taking care of me, or in other words, everything I do must be perfect in school.

Because of that, I've been very stressed, both in school, and at home. I don't hang out with anyone, and spend every day studying, because of course, I don't want to be punished, and deep in my heart, I want her to be happy with what I'm doing too.

A few more years passed, and I'm now in junior high. At this point, I've been wanting affection, so I started making friends, along with taking interest in other things besides studying.

Which is as expected, my grades dropped immediately, and my mother was not happy with that, to the point that she accidentally pushed me out of frustration, where I hit my head on the wall, then passed out.

I woke up lying on a hospital bed with my head wrapped up in bandages. I looked around the room looking for my mother, but she was nowhere to be found.

A nurse came in to check up on me, so I ask her, "Excuse me, do you know where my mother is?" with a weak voice.

The nurse looks happy that I was awake, but then that smile turned into a pitying frown, "I'm happy that you're finally awake, it's been a week since you passed out."

"A week?!" I yelled, shocked, and the nurse replied with a slight nod, "And your mother hasn't visited you since she brought you here."

The inside of my chest started hurting, and tears fell down my eyes… After 3 days have passed since then, I'm finally able to get out from the hospital.

Without a second thought, I immediately returned home only to find it messy, and my mother was nowhere in sight.

'Where did she go?' is the only thing I can think of. I searched every nook, and cranny of the house for her, but to no avail.

I decided to sit in her room, trying to collect my thoughts, until I saw that the only thing that is still in place, is the picture of my father, and I immediately know where to go.

Then sure enough, there she is, at the graveyard in front of his grave, hugging it tightly, and crying nonstop while muttering the words "I'm sorry."

Once again, tears left my eyes harder than before, as much as I want to show up in front of her, it is best to leave her alone.

So I waited patiently at home. I cleaned, and put everything back in its place, then I made her favorite dish, omurice, along with a little something in front of it, and waited for her.

A few hours passed, and the sun was ready to set, footsteps could be heard outside the door, and then it opened slowly. "I'm home" a very weak voice came out of her mouth, while her eyes looked almost lifeless.

"Welcome back home!" I yelled, coming out of hiding with a big smile on my face. Her eyes stared at me in shock, and in a blink of an eye, she jumped, then embraced me.

"I'm sorry Rin, forgive me" repeating those sentences, she cried while hugging me ever so tightly, and then I returned her embrace.

"It's okay mother. It was never your fault, so cheer up, and smile again" I said with slight tears in my eyes.

I lost track of time on how long we stayed like that, but light finally returned to her eyes, "Say, let's have dinner, what do you want?" she asked with a faint smile.

"No need to worry about that, I've already prepared it for both of us" I replied. "You can cook?! Since when?" She asked surprised, and I only replied with a shrug, along with a sly smile.

We both then sat down in the dining room, raring to eat. She then noticed the little something I left for her.

It's a picture of me, and her commemorating the moment I won a competition with a proud smile on both of our faces.

She looked at me once again, and I only gave her a big smile, which she then finally, after so many years, smiled back.

*End of story*

That was the story, I guess. Some people might not have a beautiful relationship with their parents, some may not even have a parent.

But don't let that ruin your home, if it's broken, fix it, if it's destroyed, rebuild it with everything you can, and to those who haven't found their home, believe that one day, you'll find that special place where you can go back to from a tiring day. As for me?

"I'm home~"

"Welcome home, Rin~" my mother greeted me with a smile. "How about omurice for dinner?"