Page 128 of Enchanted

Chapter 35

Ethan

When I opened my eyes, bright sunshine warmed my face. I reached up to touch my throat, but my hand came away clean.

Was I dead?

The fear I was expecting wasn’t there. I felt oddly…calm. Serene. Vaguely, I was aware that I should be panicking. There was a quiet, nagging sensation that I had somewhere else to be.

But there was no overriding this peace.

Soft grass warmed my bare feet. I was in a garden filled with cascading flowers, trees laden with fruit, and beautiful statues. In the distance, there was the sound of rushing water.

Closer, there was humming.

Goosebumps rose on my skin. I knew that tune. I’d heard it a thousand times during my childhood.

Following the sound, I stepped around a bush. Tears welled in my eyes. There, sat at an ornate patio table, was someone I never expected to see again. “Mum?”

She looked up from her needlepoint, her lips popping open in shock. “Ethan?”

“Mum.” The sound was cracked. Broken. Coming from a fracture I’d never thought would be repaired. “Mum.”

Her eyes were glassy as she stood. “Oh god, Ethan.”

We moved at the same time, crashing into one another. I cried like the boy I’d once been as I hugged my mother tightly.

“It’s okay, Ethan,” she whispered, rubbing my back soothingly. “Let it out, my darling. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” I sobbed. “You left me.”

“I know. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to, I truly didn’t.”

“I didn’t get to say goodbye. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Mum.”

“Less of that now.” She clucked her tongue, easing back so she could see my face. Using her sleeve, she dried my cheeks. “I’m glad you weren’t there.”

“But I should’ve been there.”

“No,” she said firmly. “It’s bad enough that I died, Ethan. Did you want me to go knowing you’d seen it happen?”

“It didn’t make it any less painful.”

“I know,” she sighed. “Death is never easy. Come. Let’s sit a while.”

She led me over to her table. It was only as I sat that I asked her the question I’d thought earlier. “Am I dead?”

Mum hummed a few notes of the tune I liked to think of as hers. “No, I don’t believe so.”

“Then why am I here?”

“I’m not sure.” She smiled at me. “But I’m glad you are, Ethan. Being able to speak to you is a gift I never expected.”

She picked up her needlepoint again and the familiar action had me smiling. “What are you making?”

“Wings.” She showed it to me. “What do you think?”

I thought they looked exactly like Rami’s. “It’s beautiful.”