"It has to be this exact dress." I said to myself.
My mom was a fashion designer and her work was always perfect. People came to her to alter their dresses for them, so I went to her to seek her help as well.
"Mom, could you look at this dress for a minute?" I asked her and brought my phone to her.
My mom always had eyes for good things. She smiled as she looked at the picture of the dress on my phone.
"It's a beautiful dress. How much does it cost?" She asked me.
"It's about forty thousand but that's not my problem." I replied and frowned.
"What's the problem then?" She asked me, a look of concern on her face.
"It's been sold out and I can't seem to find it anywhere. I think it's off the market." I replied.
My mom was mute for some time. There was a look on her face as she kept staring at the photo. I silently wished she'd say something nice to me and then she did.
"Do you want me to make the dress for you?" She finally asked the question that I had been longing to hear. I nodded slowly in response to her question.
"That would be a lot, though. But, I can make something similar to it." My mom suggested and I shook my head vigorously in disapproval.
"I want this very dress, not something similar to it." I replied.
"If that's the case, I don't think I can be of help to you." My mom said and I left her side.
I've never longed for anything the way I did for that dress and it cost me a lot. One time, a friend of mine told me she had seen a replica of the dress I wanted and my joy knew no bounds.
"How fast can I get it?" I asked her, excited.
"I can send it across to you or you can wait till I return. That should probably be three months from now." She said in response.
"Three months is a long time. I'll send you the money for the dress and you'll have it delivered to me, hopefully by the weekend. Would that be possible?" I suggested.
She agreed and I sent her the money. By the end of the week, I had my dress delivered to me. I couldn't wait to put it on but once I had it on my body, a wave of sadness washed over me. The dress was too large for my frail body. My mom opted to help with the size reduction and I finally smiled a bit.
After she was done with the dress, I tried it on and it was perfect. I plugged in the pressing iron and tried to straighten the lines on the dress. My phone chose that time to ring and I forgot to turn off the socket. While I took the call, the smell of burnt fabric crept into my nostrils and it dawned on me that I had left the iron on my new dress. I rushed back to the table and hurriedly raised the iron, only to be met by a gruesome sight.
I stood still and stared at my new dress which was beyond recognition. My mom must've perceived the burning smell as well, she came to where I stood and gasped in shock.
"What happened?" She asked me.
I couldn't speak. I tried to but I ended up shedding tears and I grabbed the clothes and ran into my room. For the rest of that day, I stayed indoors and I refused to eat as well.
Weeks after that, I still hadn't healed from the tragedy that had befallen me.
One morning, my mom came into my room and sat on my bed. I clutched the duvet tighter to my chest and turned away from her.
"You can't continue to be like this over a dress." She said to me.
"It's not just a dress, Mom. I've been trying all I could to get that gown and when I finally did, I still destroyed it. How can I move on from it?" I responded and felt hot tears trickle down my cheeks.
"Let me see the dress." My mom said and I reluctantly stood to my feet and brought it out from my closet.
She took it from me and left my room.
The next morning, she returned the dress and I saw that she had altered it completely. She had used another fabric to cover up the burns and it seemed like a different new dress.
"It's beautiful but it's different from the dress I wanted." I whined.
"Well, my dear daughter, there are no roses without thorns. You'll make do with what you have. At least, your money didn't go to waste and there's still a trace of the dress you wanted." My mom responded.
I took the dress from her and dropped it into my closet, not knowing if I would ever put it on again.
Thanks for reading