She stared at the stairs and in her mind’s eye, she saw it as it was back then; hidden in the quiet corner of the park and surrounded by thick foliage. Leaning on her cane for support, in a slow, emotion-laden voice, Alice told her son a secret she had harboured for too long.
‘I’ve battled with myself whether to let you know or not, but with my diagnosis, I can’t put this off any longer.’
‘You’ve always wanted to know who your dad is and the truth is that I don’t know who he is.’
‘For many years, these stairs represented the stairs into a private hell.’
‘Thirty-two years ago, I was attacked here by two strangers and you were conceived that evening.’
‘Circumstances that led to your birth were difficult and changed my life, but once I held you in my arms, I couldn’t give you up for adoption.’
‘You’ve been such a blessing to me that a situation meant to destroy me was turned around.’
Jacqueline
Thank you, J.S. for the photo prompt and PJ for hosting.
a cooking pot and twisted tales 
I feel sad and happy after reading your story. Nicely written.
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Thank you 🙂
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Beautiful!
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Thank you 🙂
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Sometimes the most beautiful things come from tragic situations. Nice one, J.
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True Van. True.
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Awww, such a heartbreaking story that turned to joy! Lovely story Jacqueline!
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Sometimes out of pain joy is born. Thank you PJ
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nice
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Topical.You could deliver a happy ending to this sad take. Great write.
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Oh wow! Intense story. Probably so difficult for the mother to say and Iwould think difficult for even a grown child to hear. He was lucky to have such a caring compassionate mother. But still at least in my mind in this situation, the fact of finding out your father was your mother’s attacker would make me angry and feel hurt too.
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Definitely a tough situation to be in. Thankfully she was a good mother and never made him feel unwanted despite the circumstances of his birth. Naturally, he felt angry and sad. Thank you Mandi
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You’re welcome 🙂
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This is very sad. Words wouldn’t do justice to describe this mother’s sufferings over the years!
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It must have been a tough position to be in.
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What a difficult secret to keep inside all that time, and yet so difficult to tell, as well. I love the symbolism of the ascending stairs, matching her walking up and out of that hole by herself, and also (given the hint about her diagnosis) for the next journey she has awaiting her.
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Your insight is wonderful Joy.
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Well, he was lucky he had a great mom. Beautiful story with a lot of soul. Well done.
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Yes indeed she’s a great mom despite all the adversity. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.
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There can be good that comes from evil sometimes!
Great story, Jacqui 🙂
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True. A lot of times good things do come out of bad situations.
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Wow! What a powerful and heart breaking story! This took me completely by surprise. Not at all what I was expecting when I looked at the photo or clicked on the title.
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