"M...mom" I mumured those words that I didn't say in such a long time.

The bully lost a tooth, he was injured quite badly from serveral of my mom's blows.

"Fast"

"Go"

My mom said while helping getting up. We walked home together, my mom was smiling so bright cause she got to walk next to me.

It was cold and rainy but my heart felt warm. My mom is completely wet from head to toe because she didn't use the umbrella. Maybe she forgot to use it because she was too worried about me, that I will run under the cold rain. I pushed my umbrella over to her but she pushed it back and smiled at me like a little kid. I smile back at her. The memories of the back flought back like a flood.

That night, my mom was between life and death. The family of the bully came over and torture my mom. My dad was still at work, there were only my grandma, mom and me at home. They came with sticks and hit my mom cruelly.

Hiding behind the wall at the backyard watching my mom being beat up, I felt anger all over my body but I couldn't do anything. I hated myself, wish I could do something for her.

They left, I slowly walked in my house. My mom lying on the floor, blood was everywhere, she was heavily breathing on the floor whispering

"Help... Help.... Help..."

My grandma sitting on a chair crying, still terrified with what happened without knowing the reason why. I explained to grandma in a few words and came help my mom.

Just by seeing a glimpse of me by her swollen eyes, she smiled. Tears rolled down my cheeks, my heart seized, I was hurted.

From then and on, I was closer to my mom and played with her after school like what I used to do despite of the people making fun of us.

The year I went to college, my school was in another town, seperated from mine by a small mountain, so I moved to live there.

Every week, my mom would go all the way around that mountain to bring me some food, some fruits cause I couldn't afford much.

This time she brought some kind of fruit that tasted like peaches.

"Fruit. Mountain. Pick."

I could understand that she meant she picked it up while she was going here.

"It tastes good mom." I smiled.

"Eat. Eat." She nodded and laughed.

Then she went back, little did I know, that will be the last time I got to see my mom.

For a long time, she didn't come to visit me anymore. I didn't why because she has never missed one. Waiting anxiously, I suddenly received a phone call.

I was shocked, could barely stand on my feet any longer, my heart felt so hurted, so much pain. I knelt down on the floor and started crying, probably I've never cried this much in my life.

"Your mom passed away, Toan. I'm so so sorry. She was on her way to visit you but on the way, she tried to pick these kind of fruit but the tree was so near the edge of the mountain so... She fell down. After a few days she still didn't go home, I told the polices to find her. She lied... with those fruits all over her. I'm so sor-" Grandma said while crying.

I wasn't there next to her, it was all my fault that I said that those fruits were good so she tried to pick it for me. I'm a horrible son mom, please forgive me, please forgive this horrible son...

I attended at her small funeral. I couldn't hold back my tears, it kept rolling down and dropped on my mom's funeral. I surrounded her funeral with the "pretty flowers" that she always showed me.

After everyone left, I was still there, curl up next to her funeral. I already missed her hugs, her laughs, her bright smile whenever she saw me.

It was a cold day, but I felt warm lying next to her funeral.