Member-only story
A Fictional Character Died and My Mom Cried. I Miss Her More Than Words
Sometimes when you create a character, watching them pass is heartache
It was around three thirty in the afternoon when I heard crying coming from the kitchen of our house. I was used to hearing lots of laughter and upbeat music coming from the kitchen, but not on October 5th.
I walked into the kitchen and saw my Mom sitting at the kitchen table with a lined pad in front of her and tears streaming down her face. My Dad had passed a couple of years earlier and I thought maybe she was thinking about him, and I went to comfort her.
‘’Alan, I have some sad news. Mr. Mendez died. Rosie took him to the hospital when she thought he was having a heart attack, and it turned out that’s what was going on. He didn’t make it.’’ She then burst into more tears and I was left standing confused and worried. Who was Mr. Mendez and why was my Mom, Marion Schwarz, taking it so hard?
‘’Uh Mom, How did you know Mr. Mendez?’’ My Mom raised her head and looked at me through glossy eyes. ‘’I gave birth to Mr. Mendez. I developed him. I brought him along. He was Jeffrey Allen’s mentor. He was a wonderful man who owned the Hallandale Beach Flea Market. Rosie was his Niece. He was so kind and now he’s died.’’
I looked at my Mother like she had lost her marbles. ‘’Uh, Okay then. You are talking about a fictional character you created and then you had die. Uh, Mom you created that scenario, so why are you crying. You knew the outcome.’’
My Mother motioned for me to sit and walked over to the kettle, which she filled and then plugged in to boil. She then pulled out a plate, reached into the big cookie jar on the counter and grabbed a couple of chocolate chip cookies. She sat back down across from me.
‘’When I write, I put my heart and soul into it and the characters are very real to me. They come to life. If I didn’t feel they had a pulse and heart than I couldn’t write them. So, when a character I’ve created dies, it is really hard cause I’ve come to love them all.’’
She jumped up again and went and filled two mugs with hot water and then placed tea bags in them. ‘’I gave you a white blueberry tea, I hope you like it, I tried it and thought it was…
