Visiting Mona

"Wake up. Please wake up Mummy", Jessica wept bitterly, shaking her mother profusely, who lied on the floor unresponsive. Jessica was playing darts in the playroom when her mother suddenly appeared and the dart landed directly on her eye. She fell to the floor immediately with a turd and has been unresponsive ever since. Jessica had been shaking her and pleading for her to wake up for over thirty minutes, with no success. She wouldn't dare to pull out the dart from her eye in fear of damaging the eye even further. Government emergency calls in this region were not working at all. Jessica knew the only way to get her mother help was by summoning her father, who had ditched them long ago for his mistress. The call went unanswered three times before his rough voice came on, "What?" he said angrily. "I warned you not to call me whatsoever." "Its Mum. She is unresponsive." Jessica said in between sobs. She knew how much her father hated her. "What happened to her" Joseph asked, his voice void of any emotion or panic. "I hit her with a dart by accident while playing," Jessica explained. "I knew you were evil. I just didn't know you were capable of murder. She can die for all I care" he said before disconnecting the call. Jesica's panic grew. She somehow knew her father wouldn't come through for them. Her mother's heartbeat was stable, but her body was still. Jessica didn't understand what had really transpired. She knew she had to do something. She took her coat and headed outside down the river. Daniel, their only neighbor, who lived three kilometers away, wasn't home. "I am looking for your father. My mother is unwell." Jessica told Mark, Daniel's son, who was helping his Mother milk the cows. "He should be home by now. He is probably on his way. What happened to your mother?", asked Mark. "Awful story. I am entirely responsible." Jessica said amid tears. A big storm was forming in the sky. Jessica impatiently waited for Daniel, hoping the rain wouldn't pour down before his arrival. The road leading to her home was impassable during the rainy season. Additionally, the river had no bridge and with the storm coming, it could over flood. Not to mention she left her mother helpless all by herself. Blood gushed out of her finger nails as she bit them anxiously that she didn't even notice. It was not until Mark noticed the blood and stopped her. Just then, a blue pick-up pulled over, with Marks' parents alighting from it. Jessica ran up to them immediately. " Please help my Mum. She is unwell." Jessica told Daniel impatiently. "What happened to her?" Daniel asked. "I will explain on the way." replied Jessica as she jumped into the vehicle. As soon as they were all settled in, huge water droplets started hitting the windscreen in quick succession. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no." Jessica cried bitterly as the storm took over space. It was so big with hailstones that they could not see the trees outside. Jessica hailed bitterly. Her Mum needed immediate attention. Even though she didn't quite understand why she fainted, she knew she had to take her to the hospital immediately. As she sat down in that pick' up, she wondered why she didn't have Daniel's number. Then again she wondered why she didn't take her Mum's phone to contact Daniel instead of coming there by herself. She wasn't allowed to have Mark's number. Her mother had restricted her from having any boy's number on her cell phone, and she was only allowed to communicate with her female friends from school. Her home and Daniel's were around three kilometers apart. Their families had met during a funeral of another neighbor where her mother had introduced Daniel's family to her. The neighborhood was so scattered and scarcely populated. Jessica hadn't quite understood why it was so and never bothered to ask. At 14 years, she usually walks to and from school all by herself, through the thick bushes and tall trees. Sometimes Mark, who is one class ahead of her, would offer to go with her, but Jessica would politely refuse knowing her mother so well for her hawk eyes. She always knew if mark or any other boy accompanied Jessica home and the consequences were unbearable. "Calm down dear, as soon as the storm subsides, we will rush to check on your mother". Linet, Daniel's wife, was comforting her. The storm continued pouring heavily, and soon it was dark outside. Jessica knew she had to act in order to save her mother. She opened the car door slowly and sprinted towards the river in the direction of her home. "Jessica wait. It is risky, and the river is obviously flooded now. You will drown too." Jessica could hear Daniel screaming behind her but didnt stop. The rain was so big but Jessica was determined. Soon the river came into view and Jessica marveled at the amount of water. It had by far beaten its water banks and swept most of the trees nearby. Soon, Daniel got up with her "Hey Jessica. We have to go back. We have no means to cross this river now. We could both drown and miss the chance to save her." he said. Without a word, Jessica turned around to go back. She felt defeated and helpless. Her mother lay there all by herself unconscious. She knew she was to blame if anything happened to her. It was getting dark now. What if animals enter the house to find her there on the floor? Her mind was exploding. Daniel was telling her something, but she couldn't really fathom it. It was still pouring heavily and both of them were soaking wet. They arrived to find Linet had already made coffee to help warm them. Jessica changed out of her wet clothes and was given Mark's sweatpants and shirts to change into. She quietly went into Mark's room to change clothes. Since the storm was so big, all her clothes were soaking wet, including her underwear. She figured how her mother would be throwing tantrums now if she knew she was in Mark's room, let alone wear his clothes. She changed out of her wet clothes and hanged them to dry. She then laid on the bed with her feet hanging as anxiety, darkness and helplessness engulfed her. ********* When Ann, Jessica's mother, got pregnant with her, Joseph, her father, was so angry. She blamed Ann for ruining their fun by getting pregnant. He gave her an earful, claiming that if he wanted children he would marry her and make their union known. Ann had been careful all along, taking pills and sometimes having to abort in secret to make Joseph stay. Her love for him was out of this world. Even though Joseph treated her badly, Ann knew or thought deep inside Joseph loved her and would come around someday to notice her and her back. She held on to her hope. Everything changed when Ann got pregnant with Jessica. It was a cryptic pregnancy and both her and Joseph didn't know she was pregnant. Even though she felt uneasy sometimes, and her eating habits changed, Ann didn't think much of it. Hell broke loose one afternoon when Ann started feeling sharp pains in her lower abdomen and back. The pain grew so much that Joseph was forced to take her to the hospital. They had called Daniel for the ride, as none of them owned any car. Upon reaching the hospital, the doctors shocked them out their hearts when he revealed that Ann had been pregnant and was due. Joseph was shocked the more. He accused Ann of hiding the pregnancy from him. He didn't believe when the doctors tried explainning to him that cryptic pregnacies excisted and Ann was a victim. He cursed her multiple times and the baby before storming out the hospital.