Timtim had a tough day at school. Luckily Mom always knows just what to say.

Timtim had been staring at the stars for an entire half-hour until Mom yelled, “Timtim, dinner is ready. Come down.” 

“Coming, Mom,” responded Timtim. She closed her journal and made her way downstairs from the attic. 

As she was coming down, she could smell Mom’s special spaghetti sauce. The odor was gyrating all over the white tiled kitchen and dining space. She made her way to the black dining table that Mom had painted with splashes of olive green, and took a seat. 

“How was your day?” Mom asked as she filled Timtim’s cup with milk. 

“It was okay,” Timtim sighed.

“My little daughter thinks she has learned to lie, ha?” Mom asked. 

“I said it was okay,” Timtim yelled, twirling her fork on her plate of spaghetti.

“Um, alright then,” Mom sat down across the table from Timtim and stared her straight in the eyes. “But may I at least know what happened to my little one?”  

Timtim wasn’t shocked about the fact that Mom knew she was off. Mom always did. Timtim kept twirling her fork around the plate and silently admired the seraphic smell of spaghetti with Mom’s superhit sauce. 

Aware of Mom’s special sixth sense, Timtim asked, “How do you always know, Mom?” 

“It’s a mom thing, sweetheart. You will know when you are one. Now tell me… What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing new. Jayden was bullying me again, my friends went to the mall without me, and to spice things up more for me, I’ve got a test tomorrow! So better start studying,” Timtim replied. 

“Aw, my poor baby! What did Jayden do again this time? When your dad comes home, I will talk to him. He will go to your school tomorrow to talk to your principal about it. This punk has crossed the limits.” 

“There is no need to do all that, mom,”

“There is, baby. You don’t worry about him. He isn’t worth your attention. And you should not be sad because of someone like him. You are a flower and he is like just a thorn.”

Mom hugged Timtim.

“How do you always just make things better Ma?”

“It’s a mom thing, love. Now, let’s go. Come on. Finish your spaghetti and let’s start studying for your test.”

When Timtim finished her spaghetti, she went up to her room. It was a cute space with tons of dolls and drawings, little poems, a family photo, and a special picture of her with Mom hanging on one of the pink walls. 

She immediately started gathering her study materials. As she did, she looked out the window at the stars again. She closely focused on that one star as she always did. It was the brightest one of all. It sparkled exactly like…

“I am back from work. Sorry, got caught up with some urgent deadlines,” Dad stepped into Timtim’s room and took her out of her thoughts. “And what’s my baby girl doing?” 

Dad looked exhausted from working late. Timtim could see the sweat marks on the light sky blue shirt he was wearing. 

“Nothing, just studying and Mom is helping me,” Timtim replied. 

“Honey…you are missing Mommy ?” Dad looked at Timtim with concern.  

“Nope…she never went away from me,” Timtim replied, not looking back at Daddy.  

Dad joined Timtim at the window and they looked out at the stars together. Timtim knew he was looking at the same one. It shone just like the platinum bracelet Mom always used to wear on her wrist. Timtim loved looking at the bracelet. She would fall in love every time she saw it.

“Hey Dad, why did Mom always wear that one bracelet?”

“Ha? You said something honey?” Dad shook himself out of the star and somehow managed to talk. “Oh, it was a piece that I got her after you were born.” 

“I remember seeing it on her wrist all the time. See, it’s in our picture too!” 

Timtim pointed at the golden framed picture with Mom shining on the pink wall. In the picture, Timtim had her hair in two little ponytails. The photo had been taken 4 years ago, one of the last days before Mom passed away. 

Process

The name Timtim was inspired by a stuffed animal character I had near me during a writing session. While editing this piece, I learned many new things about English grammar and how to create scenes.