“What does… death mean?”

I look up at my mother,

as I lay on my bed

spread out like a starfish,

while she sits elegantly on the edge of the mattress,

her back facing me.

“Why,”

she asks,

that’s a stupid question.

“Because”

I answer.

“Death, is when someone's lifetime ends, when they… fall asleep for a while”

Huh?

“So If I fall asleep… I’ll die?”

She turns to face me,

“Not exactly.”

She gives a soft smile,

I sit up,

then rest my head in her lap,

looking up at her once again,

she looks down at me with the same smile,

but something’s different.

“What is a lifetime?” I ask,

“It’s different for everyone.” she responds in a soft tone,

her hand caressing my head.

“Then.. what’s a lifetime for you?”

Her eyes relax and slowly close,

“I don’t know yet”

Huh?

“How could you not know?”

She lets out a soft chuckle,

she’s enjoying this.

“Only a dead person can tell you how long a lifetime is, because they have experienced death,”

silence.

“We have to wait till you die? To know how long your lifetime is?”

I look at her confused,

She won’t die

“Yeah,”

she finally responds,

she won’t die.

I could hear her shallow breath,

her pink lips parted like she was getting ready to speak,

but nothing came out.

“You won’t- can’t die- I won’t let you”

she opens her eyes again,

then she looks back at me

“You can’t escape death no matter how hard you try”

I smile ignorantly,

“How could you know?”

she smiles,

“Trust me Kaya, I’ve tried”

What?

“Do one thing for me Kaya- remember that everyone has a story to tell, even the dead, even the dead tell stories.”

Then,

there it was again,

that soft smile,

the soft smile that gave her tired eyes some emotion.

“My lady! My lad-”

My eyes snap open,

I look around my eyes adjusting to the light screaming in my face,

“What?”

Who was talking again?

Oh, it’s Anna,

She smiles at me and lets out a soft giggle,

“My lady you fell asleep during lessons again, young master and your sister have already wandered off to music lessons ”

Oh.

(I’M BACK!! sorry for the long break and any grammatical errors I’ve never written any poetry with quotations before so bare with me. (And this has not been proofread)