Trapped

Memories

"What do you want for your birthday, Sara?" asked mama.

"A phone, obviously!" I replied.

"Yeah, you're not getting a phone just yet, young lady."

"Come on mama! All of my friends already have phones! It's not a big deal!"

"Nope." mama said while continuing to do the dishes.

"MAYA!" I screamed.

"Gosh, what's all the blabbering about?" asked Maya who came in looking tired.

"Maya, mama isn't letting me get a phone, I'm turning 15, don't you think it's the right time?" I asked with a pouty face.

"I'm not letting her because it isn't the right time, I'll buy her anything else." mama replied before Maya could talk.

"I think it is the right time for Sara to get a phone. She's more responsible than me and could use one when she stays late at school for after school activities." Maya said while looking at her cell phone.

"What do you mean?" mama asked, having a face mixed with annoyance and confusion.

"Don't you remember, ma? Once, you didn't read the email that was sent last minute about band practice getting over one hour early. Sara waited for you after school closed outside where she was cold and wet from the rain until you came. She could really use a phone for emergencies and situations like these. As she grows to be more responsible, you can let her have more contacts and apps." she replied while not shifting her glance one bit.

"But-" Mama said, cutting off.

Mama kept shifting her glances at me and Maya, I pouted like the kids in the movies and Maya looked at mama with a bored face.

Then Maya's face lit up a bit more, she looked at me and then at mama, then she said, "I have a better idea, I can buy Sara a phone when I go to Riley, it's more of a city that this i

solated town, there'll be better phones there! I'll give it to Sara when I come back!" Maya said, now more excited than ever at her awesome idea.

Then, mama and Maya had a staring contest which Maya won like she did most of time and mama finally gave in to an offer that she couldn't refuse.

"Yay!" I said and went to hug Maya. She smiled, winked, and disappeared .

Awake

I woke up and there I was, awake in bed on a Monday morning at 5:30 am getting over the confusion of the same, rather disturbing memory. It had been 1 year and 3 months since Maya had gone missing but it was still like she was here just yesterday to me.

I went downstairs after brushing my teeth to get breakfast which was just boring ol' cereal with some french toast. Mama used to make different breakfast meals every few days, they were really delicous but she just lost it after Maya didn't come back.

While gobbling my cereal, I thought about Maya and her confident, sassy 12th grader self who had beautiful maroon hair with a funny grin. After thinking and realizing that I had to be quick so I wouldn't miss the bus, I washed my dishes silently in the empty kitchen because mama nor papa were awake yet. Then, I went back upstairs to change into my school uniform.

By the time I finished getting ready, I heard the thudding foot steps of papa and the light foot steps of mama coming out of their bedroom. I headed down where they both greeted me with sleepy head nods. Before, mornings used to be jolly where we all joked about how papa snored like an animal. It was unbelievable how many changes there were since Maya was not here anymore.

Broken

Papa worked in a chain of restaurants while mama helped renovate buildings, so gladly, money was never and is still not a problem.

Everyone was broken in some way since Maya dissapeared, papa became less involved in family and more in work while mama couldn't even get herself out of the house for months. I on the other hand, grew a bigger shell and poured myself into studies.

"Same memory?" dad asked interrupting my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Same memory." I said shifting my focus to papa's face.

"Weird, maybe it's a message or something. Maybe she's trying to tell you that you can still get a phone." papa said slurping his coffee.

"Out of all the reasons, why would the first message she sends me be about getting a cell phone?" I asked

"Well-" papa started.

"GEORGE! It's happening again!" mama screamed from the bathroom following by a big thud sound.

We both rushed to the small bathroom and saw mama gripping to the shower curtain where she was trying to brush her teeth. She had fallen hard on the cement floor because she had times where her legs disabled and stopped listening to her brain. We both sat next to mama and hugged her, then papa looked at me with a look that read " Help her up with me, ok?" Papa held her legs and I held her arms and together we carried her to the bedroom and dropped her on the bed where she broke down. Papa looked at me again, this time, his look read "Sorry, darling but you know the drill, both of us are gonna be late again."

I nodded and held mama tight and told her that everything was gonna be alright.