Life's Rollercoaster

Serena took out a blue handkerchief and wiped the moisture from her hazel-colored eyes. She remembered her husband always teasing her about how beautiful those pair of hers were.

“They were responsible for my nervous stumble the day we first met.”

He used to say and Serena would laugh her girlish laugh and reply:

“I'm grateful it was someone like you they made stumble.”

“There's a world of beauty and calm in your eyes my love.”

These scenes played in her mind as the cleric read from a little, shiny black Bible. Serena's cousin, Sue, sat by her and held her shoulders which were somehow slouched. She was a beautiful woman but sorrow, unbearable sorrow, seemed to have hammered her out shape. The only light in her life, her husband Jephtha, had just been extinguished and she was left all alone in the dark once more.

Her tears wet her pillows that night, like the dew wets the earth. Her life had just been one rollercoaster of a ride. Her life seemed like the flight she had back in February which began peacefully before they encountered turbulence. The plane jerked like a speeding car on a bumpy road. It would stop and start again. Then she was travelling to Munich for an acquaintance's wedding.

She remembered her first meeting with Jephtha, how esctatic and joyful it was. It was a blind date and they had conversed freely over coffee as if they had known each other their entire lives. His smile and voice felt like a balm to her soul.

The day Jephtha proposed to her, her heart overflowed with joy. That joy warmed her heart and made her forget the still fresh sorrow of losing her dear Dad, whom she'd buried a year ago. She felt as elated as a politician who'd just been told he won the presidential election. She knew Jephtha was one of a kind and many young women wanted him. She had seen their flirtatious smiles, their smooth seductive voices.

The flow of her joy was stopped when Jephtha's family stood against their marriage. Jephtha's dad, a retired and widely respected attorney, gave the flimsy and insincere excuse:

“No one in this family will marry from a poor and unknown one.”

Which made Serena's heart race with desperation. She felt like a fisherman who'd just made a big catch only for the fish to slip off the hook and into the river again.

But at last they were married and her joy returned to fullness. Their life together was full of love and light and she thanked God everyday for giving him to her. They lived together full 8 months before tragedy struck. Jephtha was one of the victims of a gas explosion at his workplace. Darkness descended on her life again.

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Serena cast her gaze on little Jimmy's face and a tear escaped her eyes. He was the exact replica of her late husband. The very presence of her son, his tiny voice and smiles sent a ray of warmth to her soul. It felt as if Jephtha had come back to her. It was the only thing to be grateful about in her life. She felt like someone hanging on to a raft in the midst of the sea, afraid to let go. It would be an utter tragedy to lose her son. She always shuddered as if at a most gruesome sight whenever she considered that prospect. She tried to raise him as best as she could.

Then 10 years later, her and her son were separated at sea. They were migrating to Spain after their financial fortunes had changed for the worse, when the ship capsized. When she was rescued, she didn't see her son and thought he'd drowned and the overwhelming sorrow returned. She wept inconsolably for weeks.

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42 years later, Serena, a lonely, distraught widow is pacing the beach, the waves occasionally drifting in and kissing her bare feet giving her tickles. But her mind isn't on the tickles. The sun overhead is pouring down arrows of red and yellow rays. A gentle breeze occasionally ruffles her fair hair.

It was from this very spot she had sailed off on that cursed ship with her tender son and met the tragedy that took him from her. She remembered his whimpers as he clung to her, she trying desperately to calm him and make him hold on to pieces of the broken ship.

Presently the tide ebbed to the beach and then surged back, leaving pieces of brown stone, and white sand. Something seemed to be sticking out of the white heap of sand. Serena poked out a brown bottle with a red label from the heap. It was the bottle of a famous French wine. She remembered pouring herself a tasty glass from one, the nights when she ate out with her late husband, and the tears peaked out of her eyes. One of those nights, she'd just returned from work and couldn't make dinner and Jephtha suggested they eat out. That was some weeks before the tragic incident that took his life.

She broke the bottle and unrolled a piece of white paper, marked brown and red here and there by the sand and dissolved rock particles. The handwriting was beautiful, it seemed like that of a teenager.

I'm writing this in hopes my grandma sees it. I'm with dad and he tells me this as we travel on ship to France for a vacation. Dad tells me it's at this very spot you two got separated years ago. He was rescued and later adopted by a wealthy but childless English couple who raised him. He's been searching for you and has always told me what a wonderful mom you were. I wish I could meet you. Kisses and hugs. We live in Liverpool, England. May the hand of fate guide this note to you to see.

Love, Katia Emerson.

Serena's heart was already thumping a little bit like a car's engine beneath her flowery blue-yellow gown. Could this be possible? It looked as if the light was coming back to her life. Quite possible, this could have been her granddaughter.. Or not. There had been many tragic ship incidents on that same sea. One problem was that the writing didn't mention an exact address. But Serena was going to search anyway.

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A few months later, Serena is having a nice little chat with three of her grandchildren over coffee. They had just finished the typical English breakfast and her two granddaughters were commenting on how good her food was.

“You learnt it from your mom, didn't you?”

Little Janet asked, looking up at her grandma, her eyes twinkling like a distant star.

“Actually it was my dad.” Serena said, her voice edging close to sorrow. “My mom died when I was very young. No younger than you.”

Janet considered this piece of disheartening information solemnly. She was a little girl who saw things like someone ten years older.

“I'm sorry, Grandma.”

She said finally and gave Serena a little side hug.

Jimmy walked into the living room, with a slight limping gait. His condition had been worsening ever since he got reunited with his mom.

He sat near his mother. Little Janet jumped on him.

“I hadn't hoped to see you again mom. But we've met and you've even seen my children…”

His voice was chocking and a tear dropped from the corner of his left eye. He wiped it off with a handkerchief but his mind was not in the act.

“It's well my son.”Jimmy felt the calmness wash over him at his mother's voice. “Let's be grateful for the blessings we have and look less on the ones we lost. I will spend these last moments of your life as best as I could. Though I wish it was I who were taken and you left to raise these wonderful kids. Still, it's all well.”

She wiped her tears with shaky hands and sniffled slightly. Her voice vibrated tearfully.

“It feels like those years ago when I lost your father or when I lost you in that unfortunate incident and sorrow is ripping my heart apart. But I'm grateful we've still have some things to be grateful for.’

Some days later, Jimmy received a call to come to the hospital. The doctor's face was beaming like the midday sun as he told him there was a bit of hope for his situation. There was an experimental procedure that could cure him. It had already worked on 85% of people it was tried on. Jimmy bent his head slightly as he thought of this. His pace was racing slightly. He could get another chance and spend his life with his family, especially his mum, before her passing.

When he told Serena, she kept silent, her eyes fixed on the window panes. Her eyes flickered a bit. And her voice trembled a little as she spoke.

"That's good, my son. But I don't want to surrender to hope. I don't want my heart broken again, like it had been all these years. Nonetheless let's hope for the best."

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