My Marriage Died with My MotherChapter 1
My husband wanted his childhood sweetheart to taste the delicious lingonberry flavors, so he sent my mother to gather some of it. She braved the rain to climb the mountain and pick them, but encountered a landslide. When I arrived at the hospital, all I saw was my mother's lifeless body, clutching a branch of the berry tightly in her hand. Tears streamed down my face as I struggled to reach my husband by phone. When I found that he was updating his social media with intimate photos of himself and that woman, I lose my mind. They would pay for this.
“Our condolences. We apologize for not reaching her on time,” said one of the rescue team members, sincerity evident in their words. “The rain was pouring heavily and the terrain was quite challenging. The area she went to is prone to landslides, but that's not an excuse. This is our fault.”
My eyes widened involuntarily, and I knew it made me appear as if I were holding back anger. But I was too shocked to look away or blink. Every movement system in my body felt like they were having a major shutdown.
“Why is she angry? It's not even our fault,” muttered a younger rescue team member beside me. He seemed annoyed. “Besides, who the heck is in their right mind allowed an old woman to go to the forest alone to pick berries in such heavy rain?”
“Shush, Hansen,” the senior rescuer reprimanded.
“What? I’m not taking a blame for an old lady’s death which was actually the fault of her guardian!” The younger member grew angrier as he spoke. “I know our job is to save lives, but we're not God. We can't bring someone back to life after they've been buried six-feet under landslide. It was an accident.”
“That's enough, Hansen!” The older rescuer snapped. “Hansen is our newest member. He's still learning the ropes, and he needs to keep his mouth shut immediately,” he said to me with regret, glaring at Hansen at the end.
“We are really sorry,” with that, they walked away. I didn’t understand why mother insisted on going to the mountain in the midst of heavy rain. As I tried to process what had happened, Hansen's words echoed in my mind.
“Wait!” With great effort, I finally snapped out of mind and hastened to catch up with them. “What did you say? W-what did my mother go up the mountain in the middle of the rain for?”