「故事·听力」I Was A Terrible Daughter And Now My Mom Is Dead

I Was A Terrible Daughter And Now My Mom Is Dead

Hi there! My name is Sarah. I am 13 years old. And now I am going to tell you a true story. And true stories are not likely to have happy endings. So...Settle in. Recently my family has been going through some hard times. My brother and I still can't get over it.

It just so happened that I was a late-in-life baby and, a girl - which is even worse, I guess. Double trouble! Yeah, of course my mom loved me to bits and pieces, but sometimes it was just so... annoying! My father also left us when I was three, so... Anyway! 

The only beacon of light was my brother. He is so freaking cool! We can literally talk about everything, I can share all my thoughts with him. But I have to confess, that I envied him a little. He is an adult now, so he is allowed to do whatever he wants to. He goes out with friends, goes to parties, drives a car. And I was never allowed to go with him. Our mom always had a good reason to make me stay at home. It's too dangerous Sarah, or too late, or too risky. 

I was getting more and more annoyed with my mother every day. To the point that I wouldn't even try to listen to her advice. Even when she would try to make up with me, I would keep on mouthing off. And I just didn't understand how my brother could stand her. They had long conversations and every Sunday they went out to a cafe around the corner for coffee. I never went there with them because I didn't want to be part of the audience for mom's speeches. "

One evening, my brother came home from college and said that he had made up his mind to go to the Grand Canyon with his friends. He had been saving money for a long time. He was beaming with excitement. I was very happy for him on the one hand, but on the other, the last thing I wanted in my life was to stay alone with my mom during summer break. So I asked my brother to talk mom into letting me go with him. He did his best to persuade her that it was safe and that there was nothing to worry about, but mom was adamant. And on top of that, she got very offended and said that I was not going. End of conversation! That was the final straw. I don't remember all the nasty things that I said to her that evening, but what I remember clearly was that I said: ”I hate you!”  She burst into tears and went to her room and I didn't even feel sorry. The next morning she seemed to be in a better mood and suddenly said that... I could go. I was on cloud nine. 

My brother and I had such a great time on vacation. It was my first trip far from home, so everything seemed so breathtaking. I loved the views and our walks and all the fun. And of course I was very happy to spend so much time with him. We even had a couple of stories we agreed to not tell mom about. There was one when we got lost hiking and one when we dove into water from a really high rock. I wanted to stay there forever and never go back. But we did go back, of course. And my mom cooked us a delicious dinner and gave us a very warm welcome. My brother could not stop telling her about our trip, but I didn't feel like listening and went to my room. I was very upset that it was all over and that it was time to come back to real life. Later that evening, I was passing by my brother's room and I saw that he was sitting all alone crying. It scared me to see him like this. I had never seen my brother cry before. But when I asked him what happened he said that he had an argument with his girlfriend. But I knew my brother better than that! He would never cry because of a girlfriend and I don't think he would ever lie to me either. So I suspected that he had another reason. 

In the following days and weeks, I was expecting my daily routine with all the arguments and fights, but it never happened. My mom spent a lot of time in her room and I hardly ever saw her in the mornings anymore before school. She didn't make breakfast for us any longer and my lunch box was also empty unless I filled it myself. It was so unusual that I even started missing my mom's awkward questions and morning pancakes. When I got back home from school every day she was never there, and neither was my brother. And every evening they came together, always quiet and looking devastated. 

One day, when I was walking toward my house from school, I saw an ambulance leaving our place. I rushed to the door and I was very surprised to see my aunt Lizzy, my mom's younger sister, in our hallway. Aunt Lizzy lived in another town far away from us and very rarely came for a visit. She didn't smile or give me a hug like she always used to do, and she looked really worried. And then she told me...