Baby Ava

(This photo was found by me)

Momma can you see me? Can you see that I am here?

The little girl, Ava, had been only two years old when the sickness took over. It was nearly a year of trips to and from the hospital before she left her family behind, embracing the “pretty lights.”

Ava could see her mother now, in fact, she was standing right beside her. Her mother was sitting beside Ava’s little bed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Momma, it’s okay. Don’t cry Momma,” Ava said, trying to put a hand on her mother’s shoulder.

No matter how hard she tried, she could not get her mother to hear her. She could not touch her mother. Ava was just a ghost now; she could not interact with her mother like she wanted to.

Ava sat in her old bed and started to cry. She missed her mother. She missed her toys.

“Momma, stop crying. Momma,” she said.

She wanted to reach out to her mother. Ava tried again to put her hand on her mother’s head. This time, when she did, her mother looked up.

“Ava, are you there?” her mother asked.

“Yes, Momma, I am here,” Ava said, patting her mothers head. If she could not hear her, Ava was sure her mother could at least feel her touch.

Ava’s mother smiled to the bed, unable to see that her daughter was sitting right in front of her. “Ava, you can let go. I will be fine. You should leave.”

Ava patted her mother’s head once more before standing up. “Okay, Momma. Goodbye Momma.”

She walked slowly to the door, looking back at her mother, who had stopped crying at her touch. Ava smiled as she saw her mother stand and speak. “Goodbye Ava.”

Moments later, Ava was in the yard. Her little white dress shone in the sunlight, even if no one was there to see her. The fall leaves did not crackle under her footsteps as they once did when she and her mother were walking into the hospital the first time.

The chill wind did not affect Ava as it once did. It was warm. It was beautiful. It was time.

Ava looked toward the woods and stepped forward. She was halfway to the end of the path of light before she turned and looked back at her house. She remembered the smile on her mother’s face when she said goodbye.

Ava smiled and looked toward the light. She stepped forward, a little girl of only three years old, ready to say goodbye.