Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

Today’s story is brought to life by the following prompt…

This is my submission for Kevin’s No Theme Thursday.

A Mother’s Hug

Clive nervously grips the handle of his briefcase, sucks in a stuttered breath of air before rolling the sea of saliva that washes around inside his mouth, then swallows it.

“Nervous?” Gloria asks him, her smile warmer than he remembered.

“Scared shitless, to be honest,” he says with a muffled laugh.

“Why?” she asks with surprise. “What’s to be scared of?”

His brow rises, and his lips purse as his chin crumples. “Everything, and nothing. That,” he says as he nods towards the pulsating light that sits just at the edge of the garden path.

“Ah, that,” she says with a smile as she looks towards the light.

“W-What’s it like?”

“A mother’s hug,” she says without hesitation.

A soft smile whispers its way across his lips, and his eyes glisten. “That’s what I’ve always thought it would feel like,” he says as a tear cascades down his cheek.

“Why are you so sad?” she asks as she reaches up and gently caresses his cheek. His eyes close, and he takes a deep, stuttered breath.

“I-I-It’s been so l-long, s-s-since…”

“Since I’ve been gone, I know,” she says as her smile pudges up her cheeks, while her eyes well up with tears of their own. “But I’ve been here, waiting, not judging.”

He smiles and takes in a deep breath. “I-I-I tried,” he says as he looks to the ground.

She pulls his face back to meet hers. “I know. You did what I asked you to do, you lived, and now, now we’re together again. That’s all that matters.”

“H-How do we, all of us, m-move past this? H-How do we exist t-together?”

She smiles. “I-I, I don’t know. I guess we find out together, through there, through life’s final hug.”

His brow furrows. “Life’s final hug? W-Why do you say it like that? Why, why do you make it sound so final, like, like it’s over?”

“Because it is, isn’t it?”

“B-B-But, why come for me? W-Why wait, if there’s nothing t-to wait for?” he stammers desperately as he pulls away in confusion.

In that moment, her smile changes slightly, unlike any smile he ever remembers her lips displaying. And then, almost as if she was reading his mind, she quickly reverts back to the smile her lips always held.

“Y-Y-You’re not her, are you?” he nervously asks, as fresh tears well up in his eyes.

She quietly nods her head, her lips purse.

“I-I-Is there anything after this, through the light?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know, I’ve never been through it.”

His brow furrows. “T-T-Then why are you waiting h-h-here for me? W-W-Who are you, i-i-if you’ve never been through it?”

She smiles, a more familiar smile, one he hasn’t seen for a long time, one that takes his breath momentarily away. “I’m you,” he says to himself, as Gloria’s image is quickly replaced by his own, but many years younger.

“Y-Y-You’re me?” he stammers softly, blinking with bewilderment.

“Yeah, well, part of you anyway, the subconscious part I think.”

“Oh,” he says as he turns to the light and swallows. “So, you really don’t know what’s on the other side?”

“No, but, if it makes you feel any better,” he says, holding out his hand. “I can’t wait to find out.”

Clive swallows one last breath, takes his younger self’s hand, and steps forward towards the light. “Neither can I.”