The last morning

DEAR MOM, I AM NOT OKAY

Chapter One: The Last Morning

“I never knew that an ordinary morning could become a memory I'd spend the rest of my life wishing to return to.”

The morning sun slipped through the curtains, painting golden lines across Lilia's bedroom.

"Lilia! Breakfast is ready, sweetheart!"

Her mother's voice came from downstairs.

"Five more minutes, Mom!" Lilia shouted, burying her face in her pillow.

"Five minutes? You've been saying that for twenty minutes!"

Lilia smiled.

"Then give me five more!"

She heard her mother's laughter.

That beautiful, familiar sound.

If someone had asked Lilia what happiness looked like, she would have described that exact moment: her messy bedroom, the smell of pancakes coming from the kitchen, and her mother's voice calling her downstairs.

She didn't need an extraordinary life.

She only needed this one.

A few minutes later, Lilia entered the kitchen with her hair tied into a messy ponytail.

Her mother was standing beside the stove, wearing her favorite blue dress.

"Finally! The princess has decided to join us."

Lilia sat down and stole a pancake from the plate.

"Your princess is starving."

Her mother shook her head, smiling.

"One day, you'll grow up and realize how much I do for you."

Lilia rolled her eyes playfully.

"Mom, you're so dramatic."

Her mother laughed again.

And Lilia laughed with her.

Neither of them knew that one day, Lilia would remember those words and wish she could take them back.

Because growing up wasn't what frightened her.

Growing up without her mother was.

---

That afternoon, Lilia stood in front of the mirror, trying on different outfits.

"Mom! Does this look good?"

Her mother appeared at the bedroom door.

"You look beautiful, darling."

"You say that about everything I wear!"

"Because you look beautiful in everything."

Lilia groaned.

"You're impossible!"

Her mother walked over and gently fixed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Promise me something, sweetheart."

Lilia looked at her through the mirror.

"What?"

"Promise me you'll always be kind to yourself. Even when life gets difficult."

Lilia turned around, confused by the sudden seriousness in her mother's voice.

"Why are you saying that?"

Her mother smiled softly.

"No reason. A mother worries. That's all."

Lilia wrapped her arms around her.

"Don't worry so much. I'm not going anywhere."

Her mother held her a little tighter.

"Neither am I, my love."

Neither of them knew how cruel those words would sound in Lilia's memories.

---

At 6:17 p.m., the phone rang.

Lilia was in her bedroom, listening to music and scrolling through her phone.

She barely noticed her father answering the call downstairs.

Then she heard something.

A sound she had never heard from him before.

A broken, trembling voice.

"No... No, that can't be right."

Lilia paused her music.

Silence followed.

Then the sound of something falling.

She rushed downstairs.

"Dad?"

Her father stood in the living room, holding his phone. His face had lost all its color.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

He looked at her.

And in that moment, Lilia felt something inside her chest tighten.

"Where's Mom?" she asked.

Her father opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"Dad?"

His eyes filled with tears.

"Sweetheart..."

"No."

The word escaped her lips before he could say anything else.

"No, Dad. Don't."

He took a step toward her.

"Lilia, please—"

"WHERE IS MY MOM?"

Her voice broke through the room.

Her father covered his face with his hands.

And Lilia understood.

Not because anyone had explained it to her.

But because, somewhere deep inside, she already knew that her world had just ended.

"No..." she whispered.

She shook her head, stepping backward.

"No, no, no. She promised me she'd come home."

Her knees weakened.

"She promised me."

Her father reached for her, but she pushed him away.

"MAKE HER COME BACK!"

The scream tore through the house.

"PLEASE! I'LL BE GOOD! I PROMISE I'LL BE GOOD!"

But the room remained silent.

And for the first time in her fifteen years, Lilia discovered that there were things in this world that love alone could not fix.

---

That night, Lilia sat on her bedroom floor, still wearing the clothes she had put on that morning.

Her mother's side of the bed was empty.

Her favorite blue dress hung quietly inside the wardrobe.

A half-finished cup of tea sat on the kitchen table downstairs.

Everything was exactly where it had been.

Except her mother.

Lilia picked up her phone and opened their messages.

The last message her mother had sent her read:

Don't forget to eat, sweetheart. I love you more than words can say. ❤️

Lilia stared at the screen until the words blurred.

She typed a reply.

I love you too, Mom.

Then she deleted it.

Her mother would never read it.

She pressed the phone against her chest and closed her eyes.

"Mom?"

Her voice was barely audible.

"Please answer me."

Nothing.

"Just this once. Please."

The house gave her no answer.

Lilia reached for the pillow her mother sometimes used when she sat beside her at night. She buried her face in it, desperately searching for the familiar scent that was already beginning to fade.

And then she cried.

Not the quiet tears she had shed after a bad day at school.

Not the childish crying that ended with a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

This was different.

This was the kind of crying that came from a place so deep inside her that she didn't know how to reach it.

Between broken breaths, she whispered the only words she could think of.

"I don't know how to live without you."

Outside, the rain began to fall.

And somewhere in the darkness, a fifteen-year-old girl learned that the world could keep turning even when hers had stopped.

End of Chapter One.

Dear Mom,

Today, I learned that people can leave without saying goodbye.

I wish you had told me how to live in a world without you.

Because, Mom...

I don't know how.

— Lilia 🥀