The Journey
Donna closed the door behind her and got into the taxi. She was off to visit her mum. Donna hadn't seen her mum in a long time. She was dreading it but she had to go, especially since receiving a letter from her dad to say how ill her mum was.
Once at the railway station, Donna couldn't go through with it, so she decided to return home.
'Why didn't you come?' the voice said on the phone, later that day.
'Oh, dad, I couldn't. I tried to, honestly I did'
'Your mum hasn't got long left. Please come.'
'All night it kept going through her mind about her mum. She still didn't want to see her, but she'd be letting her dad down. That was the last thing she wanted to do. She never got on with her mum, and when she was eighteen she found herself walking out of the family home, never to return.
Next morning she made up her mind. She was going to make the journey. Nothing was going to stop her. She had her breakfast, then made her way to the railway station, this time by bus. As she stood waiting for the train she kept thinking about how badly her mum had treated her. Nothing she ever did was right. The boys she went out with were the ones her mum never approved of. What was the point?
The train pulled in. Donna nervously boarded and took a seat. There was no turning back. She just hoped when she did see her mum that she had mellowed, especially with her being unwell,but Donna somehow doubted it.
The train arrived at its destination. Donna got off and looked around for her dad, who had promised to meet her at the station, but there was no sign of him. She got out her mobile and phoned him. There was no reply. All she could do now was make her way to the hospital, where she suspected he would be.
When she got to the hospital, Donna made her way up the corridor, only to run into her dad.
'Oh, dad, I'm so sorry I didn't come yesterday.' But seeing at the expression on his face she could tell something was very wrong.
Her dad looked at her in a sympathetic way. 'I'm sorry, love, but she's gone,' he said to her as he wiped away the tears from his eyes.
Donna stood there, not knowing what to do or say.
Donna stayed with her dad till after the funeral. All the bitterness she held for her mum over the years had gone. She now just wanted to remember the good times. She was beginning to realise that there were quite a few.
