Four Years Later

Aurora’s living room welcomed the summer sunshine, providing light and warmth to her apartment. She wore a colorful dress with the same colors of her flowers on her living room windowsill—red, pink and violet. She hummed while walking to her kitchen to fill a large jug of water from the sink. Today will be a great day! A smiled super-glued to her mouth as she skipped across the living room to the window.

“Some water for you,” she said, as she provided her impatiens with water. She continued down her line, humming and talking to them—and even saying good afternoon to a few. Aurora peeked outside her apartment: a few kids ran down the street chasing each other. A kid almost crashed into a family walking down the street—Aurora’s chest rose before the kid came to an abrupt stop at the last second. Each family member had a beach towel dangling on their shoulder and the parents each held a beach umbrella. 

Aurora checked herself one more time in her bathroom mirror. She spent four years hiding her a secret from her parents who she hasn’t seen since then. She fixed her ponytail into knots—making sure they were tight. She looked in the mirror to practice her sad face, knowing she needed to remove her smile at some points through the day. 

It had been four years since Aurora saw her parents. She got into a verbal fight with them—which she ultimately never regretted. The effect of the disagreement helped her find her current job—which she absolutely loved. She called them a few times throughout the year—especially during holidays—which kept the spark of hope that they still cared inside her.

I want you to become a doctor! This will help you in the future. What you’re doing is not going to help you. Her parent's words ringed inside her head for the past four years. Those unforgettable words would finally come to an end when she met them in the park. In her mind, she knew what she would reveal to them would make them proud—or at least if the roles were reversed—she would be proud of her daughter. 

She looked at her small wrist watch for the time and it was a quarter to two. She bit her nails and widened her eyes around the park. The front gate of the park was the meeting place. Her parents were traveling by a train that took a few hours to get to her city, so she expected some delay. Aurora paced around the front gate of the park, thinking of something she could do that would make time go faster. Every moment she looked down at her clock, it seemed as if time was frozen. She knew she needed water when time began going back on her watch—the summer heat was getting to her head. 

Once she bought a cold water bottle from a stand inside the park, she was finally able to find more clear and time went by faster as it was three minutes to two. Her contagious smile remained on her face despite her stomach feeling upside down. Her head bounced from her watch to the street in front of the gate. Many kids and families entered the park from the gate as it was the only entrance. 

Five minutes past two she finally spotted her parents walking towards the front gate. Their arm wrapped around one another’s arm. Aurora quickly read their body language, which she concluded they weren’t mad or upset. This put Aurora at some ease, making her fingers remain still.

“Hi mom and dad,” Aurora said, trying to force the smile off her face. She still didn’t know for certain if they would be mad or happy. 

Her parents both had grim faces as if they weren’t pleased to see her. They wore clothes that were faded and worn out. They held their grim faces for a few seconds—Aurora stared at them, rethinking if she made the correct decision of meeting them.

“Hello, Aurora,” both said, synchronized. Their faces were lit like a match in a dark room. “We got you that time,” Jesse, her mother, laughed. 

Aurora let out a sigh of relief with the tension in her muscles. She took two large steps towards them and wrapped them around her arms. Their clothes reeked of sweat. Aurora twisted her head to her mom’s hair—a dirty aroma of salt on her hair rose to Aurora’s nostrils. Aurora almost started to cry with joy as she held her parents around her arms. She knew the condition they lived in but she didn’t think it was that bad. 

“Are you still at the same place?” Aurora asked them, trying to remove the super glued smile on her face. Hopefully they think its from seeing them rather than thinking I’m smiling because of where they live, Aurora thought. 

“Yes dear, its been hard to move to another place,” Jesse said while Hugh looked at his wife and listened to her with open ears.

Jesse turned to Hugh and then Hugh continued speaking as tears filled Jesse’s wet eyes. Aurora smiled disappeared—it was as if seeing the tears in her mom’s eyes solved Aurora’s super-glued smile. “Your mom and I try our best to make ends meet. This is why we were so strict on you to become a doctor or an engineer. We didn’t want you to go through the same road of living on welfare.”

Her father’s words were the gasoline to the spark inside her. Aurora’s insides were burning to reveal the secret. At the moment, she knew for a fact they will be happy. “Well, I wanted to show you something I’ve been…” she paused for a moment. “…hiding from you.”

The three of them left the front gates of the park and walked down the noisy street. Aurora told her parents about the business she was in for the past three years and all the money she made. She bought the three of them ice cream from an ice cream truck. The three of them arrived at a house that had a “For Sale” sign on its yard but also had a “SOLD” tape over the sign, large mowed grass front yard with a garage that fit two cars. 

“This is your new home,” Aurora said, finishing her popsicle. “I know the condition you two lived in and I hope this house will improve it.” Jesse and Hugh were speechless, but Aurora continued as she studied their expression and their new home. “My business kicked off so well that I was able to pay it in full. I hope you like it.” She began to run out of words to say as they continued staring at the home with tears flowing down their tired eyes.