Grace sat on her bed, with an old, battered book in her hands. It was her late mother’s diary. Grace had never really known her mother, Amber, who had always been busy at work when she was alive. They had rarely had time to discuss things at meals or share their worries, and now she was getting to know her mother through the words she had left behind. Grace started reading out loud from the diary:

‘It was an unusually bright, sunny day in London when I looked out of the window. I saw a shining sun instead of the usual, gentle droplets of rain on the windowsill and the dark, grey clouds covering the beautiful, bright blue sky. It was the perfect day for an adventure, and I put on my favourite red cloak on top of my white dress and took the bus to the edge of the city.

On the outskirts of the city, there was a lush, green forest and it was in a large tree house there that my friend and her family lived. They had chosen a very unusual lifestyle and converted the usual treehouse into a real place to live in. Birds nested on the roof of their house, and they woke each morning to the singsong of these lively birds.

“Come here Amber,” my friend Sofia called me. Her eyes danced with excitement, telling me that she too had an adventure in mind.

Without explaining, she began walking deeper into the magical forest that she lived in. Her strides were long, and I was forced to run to keep up with her. I asked her several times where we were going but she just continued walking, not answering.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, we reached the end of the forest and I saw a huge oak tree, with a large hole at the bottom. Sofia jumped into the hole. Wondering what on earth she was trying to do, I went after her and plunged through.

At once, I began to remember all the best moments of my life, my 10th birthday party when I got the horse I had been dreaming of, my best history presentation, the first time I met Sofia when we were both in a ballet class together. I saw, as though in a dreamlike state, elves and fairies playing happily around me with mounds of chocolate, berries and candies all around. I never wanted the fall to end, but when it did end, I found myself in a beautiful land and a fairy palace made of ice in front of me.’

Grace stopped, the next few pages had partly worn away, partly been eaten by moths, and any of the paper that had been left had big ink blotches on them. Try as she could, she could not make out what was written. With a disappointed sigh she skipped past these unreadable pages, and began reading again:

‘It was a dark, dark night. The moon was nowhere to be seen. Even the stars had hidden themselves. It rained heavily, water dripped in the living room through a small hole in the roof. The loud sound of thunder and lightning boomed outside, not allowing one to concentrate on anything.

My mother was very ill and her medicine had run out, for this deadly weather had been going on for days now. With determination, I put on my old, black coat and began what was to be the longest journey of my life.

I walked steadily through the darkness, the rain drenching me completely for our only umbrella had broken last month. In my hand, I held only 10 dollars, the price of my mother’s medicine.

I had only been walking for 10 minutes when I felt a dark, hooded figure snatched the money from my hand. With a cry, I tried to reach out, but the figure had already disappeared.

Feeling utterly dejected and shivering from being drench, I fainted and lay there.’

How her mother had got back on her feet, Grace would never know for the diary ended there, but tears welled in her eyes as she read about the best and worst journeys of her mother’s life.

It made her realise the poignant truth in Dr Prem Japgsi words: “Life is a mix of good and bad phases. Make the most of the good times and never lose hope during the bad times.”

My mother and her mother were both in heaven above, but I cherish the diary and will fill in the missing pages with smiles of sweet memories.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 13th, 2023