Decided to write this after seeing the ending of 'Silent Hill: Shattered Memories', this story was written on a whim and in a rush so don't expect anything too good.
This story takes place in the 'Love Lost' ending.
With that said, let's get it started.
Cheryl was spellbindingly quiet as she and her mom drove back to her house. She had been staying there ever since Cheryl had been kicked out of her apartment a while back for bothering her neighbours and she was still in between jobs, so she resigned to stay at her mom's house.
They had been distant for so long and Cheryl had been resenting her mom for so long...sure they had hugged after therapy just now, but that was mostly because her mom could tell how distraught Cheryl probably was after therapy. She doesn't even remember how long she's resented her mom for divorcing her dad...but she knows now that her mom isn't a horrible person and that the delusions have to stop.
" So...how was therapy ? " Dahlia asked slowly as they drove.
Cheryl was surprised at first before she spoke " It was...good...enlightening in a weird sorta way. Dr Kaufmann managed to help me see things clearly for once"
" So do you think you'll be going back there again ? " Dahlia asked.
" Yeah...I still have a whole grocery list of issues to work out " Cheryl was well aware that her make believe fantasy dad were hardly the only issues she had. She still had a whole host of problems that she needs to talk out and manage.
" That's good...I'm happy for you "
" Thanks ..." Cheryl said as they arrived at the house and entered.
Cheryl was more than ready to head upstairs and sleep the rest of the night away when her mom called out to her.
" Do you...maybe want a cup of coffee ? " Dahlia asked.
"...Sure " Cheryl nodded. She knew what this was leading to, the conversation that both of them had been too scared to approach.
Cheryl sat at the small dinner table as mom made a cup of joe for them both.
The mid 20 year old woman took a sip of her coffee and it just barely calmed her nerves " Thanks..."
" No problem..."
The two woman just sat there at the table,just centimetres away from each other. Neither one of them wanting to say anything...
But Cheryl knew that if she was going to move on , she needed to take that first step.
" Why did you divorce dad ?" Cheryl asked before she could think it through.
Dahlia looked surprised at the question " What brought this on ? "
" During my therapy session...Dr Kaufmann said that I didn't really know my parents well as a 7 year old...and I still don't as a 25 year old..." Cheryl admitted " For so long, I wondered why two divorced and...I just need to know "
Dahlia looked at her daughter with longing eyes.
" You know, its funny...everybody seems to think that a happy marriage or relationship needs some sort of terrible awful catalyst behind it that causes it to end " Dahlia said with a humorless smile " ' You cheated on me with your secretary' or ' You're a terrible drunk' or ' You lied to me !'. I'm sure you've heard it all before...sure me and your father had gotten into some fights and bad arguments over him getting a 'real job' since his writing career wasn't exactly bringing in millions...but the simple truth of it all is, we fell out of love "
Cheryl looked at her mother sadly as she told her story.
" Your father and I dated in high school... we were high school sweethearts, I was head over heels for him with all his literature and sappy poetry and all... we got married not long after college, and Harry was still working on trying to get his writing career to take off, we promised to be together forever..." Dahlia let out a sad sigh " But once the youthful and optimistic lenses come off, and your 'lifelong' partners characteristics and attitude start to get on your nerves and you start getting into fights over the smallest of things... eventually you decide to just end it to save you both some trouble "
" Please believe me Cheryl...we wanted to stay together for you...for your sake but...it became too much, too many hurt words and bad feelings and we just couldn't do it anymore..." Dahlia looked at her daughter sadly " I was mad at Harry for so long...over all kinds of pointless crap and I can't imagine how much pain he felt too when he finally packed his bags and left..."
" So there you go Cheryl...the full truth of your parents crappy marriage..." Dahlia let a few tears slip " I'm so sorry..."
Cheryl's gut was filled with mixed emotions : Sadness, anger, regret, fear, grief and many more.
She had gotten into so many fights with her mother after her dad died...none of them ended well, wouldn't it be nice if this one did if she didn't lash out without thinking first ?
For isn't her mother, one of the last few people who genuinely care about her in this cruel, unfair world ?
" For so long...I hated you for divorcing dad... for making him leave... believing you were some terrible mother" Cheryl admitted " For so long I've tried to comfort myself with false memories of dad and propping him up as some big hero who would have fought hordes of monsters to save me...but now I see that he was just...a guy. A guy who had fears, hopes, dreams and flaws like any other person...and I see that you're like him too mom..."
Cheryl said as she stood up and approached her mother who was still sitting, before suddenly hugging her mom.
" I don't want to lose you too mom..." Cheryl said as she cried into her mother's shoulder.
" Cheryl..."Dahlia said as she embraced her daughter " I love you..."
" I love you too mom..."
For the first time in years...the cold distance between them thawed and hope might actually be in the cards for them.
It was a start at least.
Hope you all enjoyed this story, I wanted to expand a bit more on Cheryl's relationship with her mother following her father's death and wanted to show her finally moving forward with her life.
I hope that I managed to tell a nice hurt/comfort story all the same despite the story's obvious rushness.
With that said, I'll see you all in the next one.
