A Fulfilled Death Wish

Have you ever fulfilled someone's last wish on their deathbed?

Photo by Fey Marin on Unsplash

I did. I was just 12 years old.

My sister and I were staying at our grandpa’s house for two years, because my parents were going through a tough phase of financial struggles that pulled them away from us. Those two years became our whole little world. The school was nearby, and slowly, my grandpa’s house became a second home.

Eventually, things started to get better, and my parents decided to bring us back. My mother came a day earlier and collected my sister’s transfer certificate. I was supposed to leave the next day.

That morning still lives in the corners of my memory, like a quiet ghost.

My mother was combing my hair gently, her fingers moving through the strands like she used to when I was a baby. Just then, my grandfather called out to us, his voice trembling. We went to him. He held my mother’s hand with all the strength his weak, tired body could manage. His eyes welled up with tears.

With a cracked voice, he whispered, “Don’t take Lakshmi with you.”

Then he turned to me. His eyes were pleading. “Please don’t go… Just stay, Ii will be alone if you leave me”