The Tied Destiny

‘Eleanor! Eleanor! Are you awake yet? Honey? You will be late for your work again?’  My mother was trying to wake me up from downstairs.  ‘Yes, Momma. I am awake! I will be down in a minute.’ Hi, I am Eleanor. A 21 years old fresh graduate, still living with my mom, not because I can’t afford my own place, but I just love her that much. And I can’t leave her alone, not now anyway. It has been hard for us, especially on her. My dad passed away a year ago due to heart failure. And ever since, my mom has been struggling with depression and anxiety. Though, she doesn’t show I can hear her crying and sobbing every other night. I want to rush into her room and hold her in my embrace but she needs space, she needs to fight this on her own. Instead, I stay outside her room, waiting for her to calm down and when she calms down, falls back to sleep I return to my room. This has become a routine for months now, although she doesn’t know about it yet. It has been hard for me, but right now, it’s the mom that I need to look after. My mom and dad were together for 25 years. They were high school sweethearts, went to college together, and graduated together. Right after graduation, they got married. My dad was an English professor, my mom was a writer. It was a match made from heaven, you see. They had me after a year of getting married. My mom took a break from her writing career to take care of me. We were a happy family lost in our little world. I was the only child, and I always wanted a younger sister. I used to ask my mom a lot, why didn’t they have another child, can I have a younger sister. My mom used to say cupping my face ‘Because my little princess, we don’t want our love for you to be divided among you and your sister.’ and she used to give me a kiss. It would make me forget all about wanting a sibling. Every night, when dad would return home, he used to bring me my favorite chocolate. And after dinner, he would sit beside me and read me one of my favorite stories of mom’s. My childhood is the happiest moment of my life. It was so perfect and if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t change a thing. I am grateful to my parents, who raised me to be the strong and independent woman that I am today. Our happiness took a different turn when my father was diagnosed with heart disease about 5 years ago. It was a rare heart condition that wasn’t curable. I can still remember my mom screaming and breaking down in the middle of the hallway at the hospital. We were so desperate, we were ready to try anything. We went overseas, consulted with the top cardiologists, considered every possible option. We even thought of a heart transplant but that wasn’t possible. After endless struggle my dad gave up while my mom was still trying, turning every unturned stone. She wasn’t ready to give up. She wasn’t ready to let go. But we all knew it was time. It was time to let go of the string. Their love story redefined love and made me believe in it. ‘Ele...are you done yet?’ My mom called me from downstairs. I rushed to the door while mom yelled at me. ‘Young lady! Where do you think you are going?’ ‘Mom I am late for work. I don’t have time for breakfast.’ ‘ELEANOR! You get your ass right here. You are not leaving this house without having a proper breakfast.’ ‘MOM I am super late for work!’ ‘Don’t make me repeat again!’ ‘Arrrhh. Mom I hate Oats! Can’t I have chocolate chips?’ ‘Absolutely not! Chocolate chips are bad for your heart. You will eat what has been served to you.’ Ever since Dad passed away, my mom has been paranoid and health-conscious. I didn’t want to argue so I just had my breakfast without further complaints. ‘Bye Mom! I will see you later. Love you!’ with that said I left. ‘Bye Honey. Drive safely.’ she replied.  My office was a 15-minutes driveway from where I lived. We recently shifted to New York. Mom wanted a fresh start and I agreed with her. I have lived all my life in California. Although growing up in a literary family, I have never been good with words. However, I was fascinated by movies and cinemas. Whenever dad used to read me stories, my mind would drift into imagination, picturing every scenario in my mind vividly. I would picture how the story would if presented as cinemas. So naturally, I enrolled in a film-making program. I didn’t want to trouble my parents with my college fees as we were a little tight on finance because of dad’s health condition. So, I signed up for community college in my hometown, plus it meant I would get to come home on holidays and weekends. During my college, I had worked with different directors and producers as an intern. I also got to observe the film-making process closely. That was a huge opportunity for me and I got to learn a lot from it. I wasn’t the brightest student but I was persistent. My consistency helped me win my internship in one of the reputed companies. I worked as an intern for a year. After that, everything changed as my dad was no more. After a while, my mom decided to shift to New York. After months of job hunting, I finally got a job as an assistant director in one of the film industries. I have been working here for 2 months now.  ‘Flim-making is an art’. This is how our professor used to start the class every single day. ‘You can’t copy art, you can’t read art. It should come within you. Whenever you portrait a story, a part of you should be attached to that story. That’s how you give life to cinema and make it a movie, a Blockbuster movie. Remember, all the lights, cameras, setup is nothing without soul and that soul should come from you. That is how you become a great director. As a director, it is your job to bring every word of the story into life.’   His words have never left my mind from day 1. Someday I want to make a movie of my own, the greatest movie of all time. Someday.  When I reached the office, everyone was rushing and hurrying, the phones were ringing nonstop, there was shouting, yelling. It was chaotic. It was a huge mess. One day ago, there was a huge scandal of the lead actor whose movie was just realized. And ever since then, our office has been a huge disaster. Reporters calling us all day and all night without break, demanding the press conference. As I walked in I could feel the huge wave of tension in the room. And I realized it is going to another long day.