The Smiths

It must have been the most painful time for Mrs smith, for someone who had just lost her husband, her facade seemed to be very smooth.

The mother and daughter duo walked back to their rented apartment, lost in thoughts. Who would have thought, that an easy-going man, who seemed to respect everyone was shot dead on his way home from work?

The man was unlucky to have stepped out twenty minutes before the closing hours to be shot dead by a man in a black leather jacket, who aimed at someone else two steps away from him.

Hearing the news, his family was devastated by the unexpected turn of events. They had no other person except each other in the foreign land, not relatives or family of some sort, because the family they had were all back in their hometown, three countries away.

The Smith family was below average when it came to their financial abilities, regardless, they were contented with whatever they had. Making the most of it and planning their lives following the little they had.

Audrey was sixteen when her father died, she loved him so much, he was her role model. All her life, all she wanted was to get educated so she'll be able to give her parents a better life.

During the whole funeral procession, Audrey stayed quiet, the loud, ambitious, and beautiful girl which everyone knew was no more.

She sobbed quietly just looking at the casket her father was placed. All the things she wanted to become to give her parents a better life, her future, she now considered wobbly.

There and then Audrey became someone else, someone foreign to her mother, her neighbors, and even to herself.

That night, after the funeral, Audrey cried her eyes to dryness, she cried to the point where the top part of her vest was soggy.

She thought of her mother and what she would have to go through, she kept asking unanswered questions, "how would mom cope, where do we start from, what are we going to do, how are we getting through this".

Just then, her mother who was crying silently by the entrance of her room cleaned her tears and went in to comfort her child. Audrey suddenly heard the hinge of the door creating a sound, indicating her mother was coming quickly cleaned her tears and stood up pretending as if nothing happened.

" We were so happy when we chose a name for you.." Mrs smith said as she entered the room with eye bags, she continued, " Audrey Nova Smith, unlike most people who found names for their child before birth, your name was given to you after birth".

Sitting beside her daughter, Mrs smith tugged her daughter slightly to sit with her on the bed, she proceeded," the circumstances around your birth weren't as straightforward as a normal birth, you were too fast to see your parents" Audrey smiled hearing her mother speak.

"You came even before we got to the hospital, your father defined the circumstance as courage, he named you Audrey, meaning noble strength and I named you Nova because you were our beacon of hope. This phase will pass my sweet, and then we'll come to accept it just the way it is, that your father has left us" Audrey cried hearing this.

"We'll get through this honey, we surely will". Mrs. Smith said. That night, the mother comforted her child to sleep before she started to think about her dear husband, the mere thought brought her to tears, but she had to gather the courage to raise her daughter by herself. She knew the road ahead was bumpy, looking at her daughter beside her one last time she closed her eyes to sleep.