Random Short Stories

My mum

You know, I pity my mum.

Before this circuit breaker started, she slogged in her office, earliest to leave and the latest to come home. I barely saw her on weekdays. There were somedays we could go without an exchange of words at all. I thought this break would be good for her and it sure is, but she still works hard, and now the weekend responsibility of buying lunch has become her everyday chore.

I would like to blame my dad for my mum's misery. This useless male who quitted his job for a period of a few years because he couldn't handle a little stress, sparing no thought for his poor wife. This lazy guy who just couldn't go out of the house to the nearby food court to buy food for the family. This sexist racist imbecile who made the worst jokes and insensitive comments.

Thanks to my mum's poor judgment, she is stuck with this man. Honestly, I have no idea how. I wouldn't want to ever marry such a man. I guess I finally understand the deep-seated hatred my sister has for him.

Maybe my sister is also to blame for my mum's hard life. Ever since she was haunted by OCD, my mum's life has probably become more of a nightmare. My mum, already seriously sleep deprived with a chronic illness, would stay up with my sister as she did her homework at snail's pace. This would go on for few days on end to about 2am in the morning, leaving my mum with a miserable 4 hours of sleep.

I guess my brother partially plays a part in this sad tradegy. My mum always worries about his school work. This naughty boy would lie or forget (I'm not sure which) about his homework many a times, and I guess because of that, my mum would check my brother's bag, adding another to her extensive list of family chores. He would often pee on his bed which we reckoned was a mix of laziness and oblivion, but because of that, my mum's sleep is once again delayed as she drags my half-awake brother to the toilet at midnight each day.

Her horrible life may be due to me as well. Somedays I wish I were a little more helpful. Well, with my lazy and selfish personality, it would be hard. Even more so with my mild "social anxiety" as an excuse. I guess I shouldn't be the pot calling the kettle black. Maybe it is finally time to do what I should do as the eldest child and make my mum's life maybe a little better.