No more

With bright sapphire blue eyes full of sorrow, Krystal approached the edge, slowly, almost hesitantly. The harsh sea wind blew her untamed blonde curls into a golden banner flying wildly behind her. With her white dress billowing around her, she appeared almost angelic but the wretched look of despair on her face betrayed her humanity. She stared blindly at the furious waves pounding and smashing into the cliff face like a stampede of wild horses. Krystal tilted her face upwards to the midnight sky, to the brilliant array of stars winking at her, light-years away, and she closed her eyes as another surge of grief overcame her and the dreaded memory shrouded her grief stricken mind once again.

The stony faced policeman in his crisp blue uniform sat across from Krystal. Nothing had been said yet but already Krystal felt an icy trickle of fear along her spine.
“Ms Green, your daughter was involved in an incident,” the policeman began, “A robbery occurred outside the pre-school Brianna - attended,” Krystal just looked at him but as the last word sunk in, she became frozen in fear of what was coming. She was unable to utter a single word as every mother’s nightmare, Krystal’s nightmare unfolded.
“Brianna was hit by the escaping car. She died on impact. I am truly sorry for your loss.”

Krystal cried out in anguish and fell to her knees. The sharp rocky ground clawed at her porcelain skin but Krystal took no notice. All she could see was Bree, her three-year-old daughter, her baby girl.

Without Bree, Krystal had become an empty hollow shell. Her tough single mother can-do attitude had deteriorated. Her buoyant and positive manner became non-existent. She withdrew inwards, body and mind, away from the sympathetic stares of others. She was a vacant, purposeless husk of a human being.

With a shuddering breath, Krystal got to her feet and crept forward. Sharp, pointy stones pierced her delicate soles, making them bleed, but she was ignorant of the blazing pain.

She used to be the fun one. The one they could always depend on for a joke and a laugh. Krystal used to be the one anyone could go to if they wanted someone to listen. She could coax a donkey to give her its tail if she wanted. Bree had been the mirror image of her.

Krystal’s bare toes grasped the edge of the cliff. She was oblivious to everything except for her daughter’s beaming face in her mind.

Krystal had always taken care of herself, even before her scoundrel boyfriend had abandoned her when she told him they were having a baby. Her long blonde hair would be perfectly curled every week at Antonio’s Salon but since Bree’s death, the blonde curls had become knotted and unruly. Friends had tried to snap her out of her depression but Krystal’s monotonous voice convinced them that she was lost to the heart-aching pain and agony of losing her daughter. The calls and visits trickled down to stop.

With a shaky sigh of total surrender, Krystal leaned forward. She could hear her daughter’s voice calling her.
“Mummy! Mummy!”
As gravity took hold of her, her final words were snatched up by the wind.
“I’m coming baby.”