None of the characters in my story are 100 percent perfect, but I really decided to add more details that made Alicia's mother a sympathetic character, at least to the readers, despite Alicia's blind hatred for her mother that refuses to sympathize with her mother. She's justifiably angry, but she finds it easier to stay mad at her mother than to let herself feel sorry for her mother. Especially since there's nothing she can do to help her now.
There are ghosts in the room.
One is a curtain and one is a long shadow that moves as the hours leak out of the day-
I think my eyes are open but I know they can’t be. It’s-
Late.
Nearly midnight or early morning I’m sure and for the first time in not nearly long enough I find myself dreaming about my mother.
The shadow waterboards me.
Not how she looked the last time or-
At the funeral, but way back in the recesses of the days, I thought I’d burned to ashes-
That’s another one of those…
Bad signs.
But I don’t have the energy to rage against that dark night.
I stare at the painted sunrise I see clear as the end of day on the inside of my eyelids as Mami kisses my forehead and prays over me-
Is it okay to admit I’m scared of the dark?
Andrew is snuggled up under my chin because he’s convinced there are monsters under his own bed - not under mine, apparently. But he has his own prayer. This one's for me.
“Peace, my love, my daughter, my heart. God watch over you now and every moment. Guide your steps as you walk…”
But where did her steps lead her?