"Grandma! Where are you going?" Ashley shouted as she watched her grandmother boarded the bus.
She sat and looked at Ashley through the blurred window. She didn't speak but somehow Ashley could hear her. "I am going somewhere far away my dear and I won't be coming back. Take care love."
Ashley, not wanting to believe her, chased after the bus as it rode off. She ran with all her might, hoping to catch up to the bus but not long after, she fell. She closed her eyes and cried until someone shook her. Ashley, puzzled, wiped away the tears and opened her eyes slowly.
"It is time, Ash." her father said.
The hospital called last night and by the time they rushed to the hospital, her grandmother was no longer with them. Just about two hours ago, Ashley was there by her bedside with her father. She held her grandmother's hand and her father said to let her sleep.
That morning, her aunty had said that her grandmother got up and asked for her hair to be combed. She managed to talk a little and ate some porridge. They all thought she was getting better when the hospital moved her to a normal ward the same evening.
As they went through the prayers at the wake, Ashley was sent back to the days when she spent time with her grandmother from her childhood days until last night, when she saw her grandmother for the last time while she was still breathing. Ashley couldn't help but wonder if she had spent enough time with her, could she had done more for her in her times of pain.
She smiled when she remembered the day her grandmother was watching an action packed movie together. She felt the scenes were so real and she was so distraught by all the scenes where vehicles were getting destroyed and actors killed. Ashley, at that time, kept telling her that they were not real and it was all for entertainment. But her grandmother insisted they were.
Her grandmother was no longer with them and all that was left were memories. Did Ashley regret the times that she didn't spend with her? A little. But she would prefer to remember the good times that she had spend with her, all the laughter and smiles.
Ashley looked at her mother and wondered too.
This is my fourth and final part entry to @Ozzyy 's Stories in Series contest which has ends today. Thank you @Ozzyy for this, I woudn't have thought of writing stories in series and now I have :)
Lead image by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash.
;;-;; why such a sad entry oof. I was reminded of my grandfather again ;;-;; now if you'll excuse me, imma cry for a bit