Suffocating Maternal Love
Chapter One
Mom said I deliberately tricked Sarah into
going to the cemetery, which triggered her
heart condition, and she almost died.
She was furious and locked me in a coffin,
hammering the lid shut.
“You need to understand the fear Sarah felt!”
“If I don’t teach you a lesson, you’ll never
learn!”
Darkness and terror surrounded me, and I
pounded on the coffin, begging and
apologizing.
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But Mom wouldn’t budge.
“So, you’re scared now? You can just think
about what you did!”
She had them dump the coffin, with me
inside, out in the boonies.
I struggled and screamed, desperate, until the
air ran out, and I closed my eyes.
A week later, Mom finally remembered me.
“All you have to do is apologize to Sarah, and
we can move on.”
But she didn’t know I’d been dead for days.
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“Mom, Dad, I had the best time in France! I
almost don’t want to come back! We should
do this every year!”
My sister, Sarah, was clinging to Mom’s arm,
beaming.
“But next time, we should bring Amy along!”
Hearing my name, Mom flinched, and a clear
flicker of annoyance crossed her face.
“Sarah, you’re too good. Amy’s always
bullying you, and you still think about her,
even bringing her back gifts from vacation.
She doesn’t deserve your kindness.”
Dad’s face darkened, and he scoffed.
“Your mother’s right. Amy’s a bad seed. If she
didn’t have my blood, I’d have kicked her out
of the house a long time ago.”
He got a call from the office and rushed out.
Mom took Sarah’s hand and led her toward
the walk–in closet.
“Don’t even mention that cursed girl. The
dress I ordered for your Sweet Sixteen just
arrived.”
The butler, Mr. Peterson, took Mom’s purse,
speaking hesitantly.
“Mrs. Thompson, it seems the younger miss is
still in that…confined space. She hasn’t been
home for a week.”
Mom stopped walking.
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“Then she can stay a few more days. If she
doesn’t get a lesson, she’ll never realize what
she did wrong.”
Mr. Peterson took a deep breath, his lips
trembling.
“Ma’am, it’s been a week. No one can go
without food or water for that long, and Miss
Amy…”
Mom interrupted him, annoyed. She hated
when people brought me up.
“Alright, I get it. I’ll send someone to let her
out later.”
“If she really is sorry and sincerely apologizes
to Sarah, I might overlook this mistake.”
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Sarah squealed with excitement from inside
the closet.
Mom’s eyes softened, and she smiled as she
headed inside.
She took photos of Sarah trying on the new
dress.
Sarah hugged Mom, playing the generous
sister.
“Mom, don’t be mad about Amy. I’m sure she
was just acting without thinking. She didn’t
really want to hurt me. And look, I’m fine!”
“If she apologizes, I’ll forgive her. We’re still
family.”
Mom stroked Sarah’s face, nodding.
Г
“Whatever you want, honey. You’re too good.”
Watching them, a wave of bitterness washed
over me.
My presence couldn’t disrupt their joy.
Because I was dead.
Death freed me, released me from that
narrow, dark coffin.
Blood seeped from the cracks in the wood,
gruesome.
But we were in the middle of nowhere, and no
one would find my body.
Even as a ghost, the suffocating terror clung
L
After lunch, Mom personally gave Sarah her
heart medication.
“Sarah, even if the doctors say you’re okay,
you need to take care of yourself.”
“It’s all Amy’s fault! If she hadn’t tricked you
into going to that cemetery full of coffins,
your heart wouldn’t have acted up.”
“I made her taste fear. She likes coffins so
much? I let her lie in one and enjoy it!”
“Sarah, you should have heard her
screaming.”
Mom’s cruel expression stunned me, and
tears fell.
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No one could see my sadness.
When I was stuffed in that coffin, I was
covered in blood, and I don’t know how many
bones I broke.
That day, Mom dragged me from the hospital,
kicking and screaming, and drove me out to
the middle of nowhere.
To keep me from escaping, she had someone
nail the coffin shut.
“You need to understand the fear Sarah felt!”
“If I don’t teach you a lesson, you’ll never
learn!”
