Sweven

I pressed the record button on the voice recorder on my phone. “Anytime you feel ready, Miss Morrison, you can start speaking,” I said. Miss Morrison sat still. Her wrinkles were more prominent now that she had grown older. She let out a deep sigh and began speaking. “Summer was my granddaughter. Just like the season summer, she brought a lot of happiness into her parents’ lives. However, the happiness was short-lived. The truth was that her parents, my daughter, and son-in-law were never compatible. I advised my daughter a lot against marrying David, but she didn’t care. I had to oblige with her decision because, after all, she was my only family.

Two years after Summer came into our lives, Liza, my daughter, came with her to me. She said that her husband and she were going to Europe on a business tour for three months. Unfortunately, those three months never ended. After a year, I got the news that Liza had attempted suicide. I knew in my heart that Liza would never do such a thing. David was…” Miss Morrison’s voice broke, but she quickly recovered. “Summer grew up with me. She grew up to be a beautiful woman. I worked as an editor in a magazine, and my meager income wasn’t enough for Summer’s education. David was kind enough to send that money to us from time to time, but never kind enough to once come and see his daughter.

Summer then graduated from school and wanted to study photography in New York. Oh, I forgot to mention, in her later teenage years she had to go to therapy. She had hallucinations, such vivid ones that I had to drug her to sleep upon consultation from the doctors. Her hallucinations lessened their intensity when she got to know you, though. Thank you for being her best friend all through those tough days.” I smiled and nodded with a sad smile. “She went to New York, and about three months later, I heard the news of her attempted suicide. She had written me a letter on the night before her death. Unfortunately, that too came after the day of her death. She had written to me about her recurring hallucinations and how she kept seeing her mother who was near yet so far away.”

I stopped the recording. It was already getting dark, so I bid my farewell to Miss Morrison a little while later. I kept walking the road leading to the main road, feeling a little content with the evidence I had in my phone. “Myra!” I turned around to see a woman in a black dress. I knew who she was, and it felt comforting to meet her after so long. “Julia Ma’am, it is a pleasure to see you.” “Oh, stop with the formalities! Where are you off to?”

“I came here for some work. Now that it is done, I am heading to my hotel.” Miss Julia looked at me with round eyes and shook her head furiously. “Not now, it is quite late and you should stay over at my place for just tonight. Please, I insist.” I agreed after a lot of her pestering.

We recalled a lot of our memories from high school during dinner, since she was my teacher in school. I bit into her freshly-baked apple pie. “This is delicious.” Miss Julia blushed. “Oh, have you heard about the Morrisons?” My apple-pie laden fork couldn’t complete its journey to my mouth as I heard the surname. “What about them?” “Summer is no more, and I am really sorry, Myra, you both were inseparable. Two days ago, her grandmother, Miss Morrison, also had a heart attack. Can you believe it? Miss Morrison’s father was so wealthy and now there is no soul to enjoy that huge estate.” I froze on my seat. On instinct, my hand reached towards my phone, and I pulled out my earphones to listen to the recording. I hit play, and the only voice I heard was a familiar one, not even close to Miss Morrison’s. It said, “I am Summer. Thanks for listening to me.”