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Fifteen years was a long time to be away from this once sickening town…yet it felt like it was just yesterday when I made the painful and life-changing decision to leave.
Yes, the plan was to leave and never return.
Yet here I was again…and the painful memories flooded back in torrents, threatening to overwhelm and take me under.
I opened my mouth to draw in large gulps of air and exhaled through the same. The relief was only for a moment before my heart resumed its fast beats in a staccato rhythm.
The sight of this middle-aged woman was a lifelong delight to my being. Yet fear and anxiety erased this delight into oblivion like it did not exist.
She had not changed much in the past fifteen years… her eyeglasses remained the same. Laugh lines around her nose had deepened, a sign that she did not allow my absence to take away her beautiful smile.
I watched as she dipped white sheets into the canal water and scrubbed them with her bare hands. Tears rolled down my face. I took off my eyeglasses and wiped the tears away.
If I'd stayed, maybe I could have gotten a good job that would make her happy and comfortable and not have to resort to being a local wash woman.
Will she be happy to see me? Or will she curse me for the pain I may have caused her? I couldn't imagine the struggles she'd been through to survive in this tough town where the rich trampled upon the poor.
A town where the less privileged were made to work to the bone for a simple, unsatisfactory meal. Hard work could never make a comfortable living for any of them; you had to be a part of the circle of the rich to truly survive. A circle that fed on the sweat and blood of the poor to thrive. A circle that I hated with every fibre of my being and so I ran away so I wouldn't be like them.
A shuffle of feet drew my attention to the left side. I did not realise my mother was not alone. Another local washwoman was spreading white sheets on the drying rope. She clipped the sheets to the rope and took another from my mother to spread it.
She whispered something to my mother who desperately glanced around like she was searching for something precious. Until her eyes met mine.
She froze, her mouth agape.
For a long moment, we gazed at each other. Nothing else mattered except the two of us —mother and son.
I stood on the opposite side of the canal and watched as my mother's face passed through stages of emotion in quick succession. From surprise to shock, doubt and finally, joy.
She smiled hesitantly and her eyes twinkled with delight and love. That was when my heart eased up and continued to beat at a normal pace.
I saw forgiveness in her eyes and smiles. For the act of running away with a town's band so I could make it on my own.
Our eyes stayed glued on each other as I walked onto the bridge and crossed over to her side. She ran towards me, I spread out my arms and caught her. It was a very tight embrace.
I deeply breathed in the familiar scent of coconut oil as her tears soaked into my shirt. Words of love and blessings flowed with her tears.
I was home.
Describe what you see
I see two women: one is washing clothes and the other drying them. These women are dressed as servants or wash women in a laundry house. I also see a body of water, like a canal in front of them and a modern, well built house behind them.
Describe what you feel
I feel the woman washing clothes is a little sad but committed to her work. There is no room for distraction.
This is my entry to the A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words. To participate, click on the link.
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