It had always been just mummy and I. Daddy had long left mummy for another woman. I did not really understood until I grew older. Mummy shouldered everything on. Single-handedly, she raised me while she struggled to make ends meet. Bills and school fees were all paid by mummy. Daddy had refused to pay for child support and mummy did not want to fight for it. When I asked her why, she said, “It would have been to hard.” For whom, I did not know.
I remembered that day well. It was my 12th birthday, the eighth one without daddy. Mummy and I had planned to go to the zoo. We always planned to go to the zoo on my birthdays. I had wanted to be a zoologist when I grew up, so every year on my birthday, mummy would take me to the zoo to visit the animals. I was never bored, no matter how many times mummy took me there.
It was a day like any other. The sun had been shinning brightly, till the moment when we begin to leave the house. A low rumble of thunder made us stare stunned, at the sky. Surely enough, dark clouds gathered and in the distance lightning flashed. “No!” I wailed, “No! Not today!”
“I’m sorry honey, looks like we have to change our plans,” my mother said gently. I shook my head, tears forming in my eyes. I had looked forward to today all week! How could the gods do this to me? I thought furiously. My mother couldn’t dissuade me. Her shoulders slumped. She was a proficient driver, but she hated driving in the rain. Whenever it rained, she would take the bus to work instead. She said that she did not trust the slippery roads. Without another word, she smiled at me and told me to put on my shoes. She should have been firmer that day.
As soon as we reached the highway, it started pouring cats and dogs. Mummy gripped the steering wheel tightly as she slowly navigated through the traffic. There was a jam, and cars were barely moving. I could barely see through the windshield as the rain poured down on us. The traffic watch on the radio warned of slow moving traffic and said to drive carefully as many accidents had already occurred. I was too excited to care. “Hurry, mummy!” I wriggled in my sit, unable to keep still.
“Hush, sweetheart, mummy needs to concentrate,” she murmured to me. The words were barely out of her mouth, when we heard a squeal of wheels. Everything happened so quickly. I could barely register what was going on when I heard a loud bang and felt myself being thrown to the side. Everything went black then.
I roused to the wail of sirens and something bright shinning straight into my eyes. Someone was screaming my name. It hurt everywhere. “CAN YOU HEAR ME?” a loud booming voice shot straight into my ear.
“Mummy?” I mumbled, my throat dry and my voice barely audible. My mouth ached on forming the words. “This one’s fine! Take her!” I felt myself being lifted and collapsed into the welcoming darkness again.
I was conscious. Yet, I did not want to wake up. I heard voices surrounding me, whispered words, carefully spoken. They thought I was still asleep. The voices said I was a “poor thing” and that my mother had died protecting me. It did not make sense. Mummy was still here, was she? This was a dream right? My eyes flew open. “Mummy,” my voice croaked. The owners of the voices jumped. It was two nurses. One of them went running for the doctor.
After I woke, I learnt what had happened. My mother did not break any law. She was driving carefully. The other driver, however, was speeding. He had been late for a meeting. With the heavy rain, and slippery roads, he had seen us too late and went crashing into us. My mother had seen him coming in time and released her safety belt. She had used her body as a shield to protect me. She gave up her life for mine.
There were many things to do afterwards. Daddy did not want me. Why would he? He never cared for me then, why would he start now? He left me in the hands of mummy’s lawyer, who was very kind. He helped me to find a children’s home to stay in, and settled all the payments and fees. He even made daddy pay up years worth of child support fees. He told me that this was to pay for my education, while mummy’s money would be used to pay for my livelihood. I did not have to worry. He never took a cent for everything he did either. The driver, who had crashed into us, visits me every now and then after his jail term. He is truly sorry for what he had done and tries to make up for his mistakes. Now, every year, instead of mummy, he takes me to the zoo instead.
Mummy’s love for me was passed on to many people. Especially the lawyer who took nothing in return for his help and the driver who is trying to make up for his mistakes. Mummy’s love has also passed on to me. Although some days I wished I had not been so stubborn to insist on going out that day, I still try my best to live on. I still want to be a zoologist when I grow up. However, I also want to be someone who would make my mummy proud.
