"Lu lu, get up." The constant wakeup call of her mother entered her ears. "Just 10 minutes more...."Lucia spoke as she drifted into her sleep. She covered herself with blanket to shut off everything from outside.
"Lu lu??!!" There was only one person who called her that in the entire world.
Her snoring suddenly stopped when she abruptly opened her eyes. She sat on her bed touching her body and face with confusion evident in her eyes.
She looked at her mother and couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Mom, you are alive?" She didn't control her thoughts and blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
A vein twitched in her forehead. "Want me to die already huh??" Her mother pretended to be sad as she pulled her blanket. "I might die trying to wake you up every morning.." She sighed.
Lucia who didn't hear her remarks was still in daze as she asked again, " Am I alive? Can you see me?" She remembered what she had been through just some moments ago and her face paled.
Her mom who still had to cook lunch looked at her helplessly. "Yes yes, we both are alive. What were you dreaming of early in the morning?"
Lucia didn't speak. She had turmoil of emotions and thoughts. She couldn't figure out what was truth and what was reality or if everything was just a long long nightmare. Just a moment ago she was dead and now she was in her bed as if nothing had happened so it was only natural that she was in confusion.
Seeing her daughter acting strange her mother got a little worried and proceeded to hug her. "It's alright. I am here ok?" She rubbed her back trying to make Lucia feel a little better. "Don't scare me so early in the morning."
When she felt the warm embrace surrounding her, all her thoughts came to halt. Dream or reality didn't matter as long as she could feel this warmth. She missed it like crazy.
"Mom, I am okay.....it's just that,,," She choked on her saliva before she could complete her sentence.
" Hush....Don't speak for some time." Her mother continued the action of rubbing her back.
"Mom, I am so glad..." She buried her head inside her bosom trying to stop her tears from falling.
"Happy birthday sweetie." Her mother kissed her forehead and hair as she patted her back but that just made her cry even more. Her mother waited for her to calm down while she patiently combed back her hair strands that stuck on her face because of tear.
Early in the morning she was a crying mess. Her mother after soothing her went downstairs to prepare breakfast for them. Once alone in the room, Lucia sorted out all the events. She looked at her mobile which was an old version and design. The date in her mobile showed the year 2011.
"I was not going to believe this but how can I not when the truth is right in front of me."
She accepted the reality. She had been reborn and that was 10 year in past when she was 18 years old, the beginning of all her miseries.
It was 8 am in the morning and she was now awake. In fact she had never been so awake and sober in her life.
All her memories were intact with some events in disorder since she could not remember all the details of all small and unimportant events. Today was her eighteenth birthday.
"Lu lu come down for breakfast." Her mother called her from the kitchen, waking her up from her thoughts.
"Coming.." She replied happily as she jumped out of the bed.
Leaving the rest for later she quickly freshened up and headed to the kitchen. She could smell the delicious food that was waiting her. She felt like she had not eaten for years as she gobbled up the foods.
"See I told you to eat something before going to bed last night you stubborn fool."
Her mother added another food to her bowl. Although sounded a bit harsh her love was overflowing in her actions.
Lucia suddenly felt guilty when she remembered her action. Her friends in her university had organized a birthday party for her that night and she wanted to join it to celebrate reaching her adult hood. She asked for permission but was refused anyway so she was sulking and went to bed without eating anything.
She ate silently bowing down her head. Normally stubborn and short tempered Lucia would have retorted back but she was silent.
'Weird...' Her mother looked at her daughter who was acting strangely from morning.
"Are you sick??Or any problem??"Her voice was worried.
"Sorry mom." Lucia blurted out the words she had been meaning to say but her voice was so small that even a mosquito would have trouble understanding.
"What??"Her mother looked at her expecting her to repeat what she said.
Taking a deep breathe she repeated, "I am sorry mom, for last night" She hesitated a bit before adding, "and umm for everything."
Looking at red and almost ready to explode face of Lucia her mother burst out laughing.
"Why are you laughing?" Lucia felt even more embarrassed seeing her mother laugh but felt happy somewhere inside. She had missed that joyful face.
"Nothing...I just didn't expect you to say sorry...so out of character.....hmmmm...let me guess something...You did something really really terrible right?"
She did hit the jackpot but that was from another life. "Well yes and no." Lucia gave a vague answer. "The soup is getting colder. Drink it fast it won't taste good otherwise." It was clear that she was trying to change the topic and her mother let her be. In fact she was happy seeing that small change in her.
"The party you talked about yesterday" Her mother brought out the topic.
"Oh that, its better not to go. Let it be I won't be going anyway." Lucia spoke as she finished her last bite.
In her last life she had gone to the party disobeying her mother. It was nothing special just a bit of food and drinks and karaoke. Some got drunk, some got laid, some just came for free food while some were truly despicable and used her birthday as an excuse to get her drunk. Whoever did that had no pure intention towards her and this life she was going to make sure she didn't involve in any kind of scandalous activity that could harm her career and that was the day when she almost lost her mother after all. It was no good memory.
"Awwww....my daughter has finally grown up." Het mother wiped her non existent tears using the corner if her apron. It was clear as the day that she was teasing her.
"Mom, I m serious." Lucia emphasized her words.
"Hi serious, this is mom." Her mother replied shamelessly.
"Mom..." Lucia looked at her mom who was grinning.
It was that lame old joke again but both of them burst out laughing. The atmosphere eased up and both talked and made jokes while washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. For the first time in 10 years including her last life, she felt truly peaceful and happy.
She was going to protect that smile. Lucia promised herself. The world made her the bad guy and trampled on her. She was ignorant and stupid so she let them make use of her and suffered pain and suffering. She ended up dead at the end.
Life gave her second chance and she was going to make sure she had no regrets in this life.
She was going to be the movie empress making all of the people trying to drag her down look at her with their jaw wide open.
"I have to live up to the name of the sensation queen after all." Her eyes were determined.