E X H AUST E D Evonne “Please introduce yourself at the front,” the teacher uttered, and the first class on the first day of school started. After waiting a couple of times, it’s her turn to introduce herself to the front. She spoke fluently but stuttered at the last part of her introduction. “My mother is a teacher, and my Father….” Her heartbeat stopped, and she became distinctly jittery. The bustling classroom was dead in silence; the confusion was present in their eyes. One thing is for sure, and they are all perplexed. “My father is no longer living with us because...” She paused a little. “He’s dead.” For a second, the wind was robbing her skin. She cried in front of her classmates and teacher as she felt like the wind blew with authority, and it was him. She became agitated as the class continued. One day she’s healing, and the next day, she is not. She misses everything about him; his laughs, corny jokes, and the parenting. He never visited her in her dreams, and neither a picture of them was none. She cried with agony as she bounded herself to the cemetery after the class. “How I wish I treated you nicely back when you were still alive” tears fall on her cheeks. “I know it was you who hugged me by the wind… I have missed you a lot Papa” She pondered. The silence of the place is very deafening. The memory of them flashes as she lights up the candles. God knows how much she missed her old self. She used to be jovial before, while now she cannot even crack a joke. How could she forget the man of her life who gave her so much to remember? She barely talked to him and did not even tell him how much she loved him. She headed to their house after visiting her Father’s graveyard. Unexpectedly, she dreamt about her Father the night after she went to the cemetery, telling her to be easy on herself because he’s proud of her as always. She’s happy, and so is her heart filled with gladness. She had already forgiven herself for being mean to her Father before. The pain vanished, the kindness in her bloomed. She is ready to face the world with the real drama of life. She is no longer EXHAUSTED. “We need to accept things in a life full of chaos and disappointments. Change is a constant thing in this world—nothing is permanent, not even your Parents.”
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