Colette's Mommy: A Narrative Fiction

Michonne woke with a start, breathing heavily as her eyes adjusted to the brightly lit bedroom. She was plagued by a recurring nightmare for the past month. She sat up slowly, placing her head between her knees as she tried to fight back nausea.
“Hi Mommy.”
“Shit!” She clutched her chest, finally noticing Colette who stood a few feet from the bed staring intently at her with wide brown eyes.
“You’re not supposed to swear Mommy.”
“I know Colette,” she said with a sigh, as she sat up in bed. “Sorry.” She scooted over, motioning for her daughter to come closer. “What’s up sweetie?”
Colette skipped towards the bed, quickly snuggling next to her mother. “How come you were still sleeping Mommy?”
“I guess I’m just tired baby.”
“Oh,” she wriggled …show more content…

“Something like that. It has stories in it,” she answered.
“What kind?”
“True stories about people I know and used to know.”
“Okay,” Colette said, already losing interest, since there was no mention of dragons or mythical creatures. She hopped out of the bed, taking her mother’s hand. “I have to go find Sara. We were playing hide and seek and she probably thinks she’s winning.”
Michonne looked at her daughter with a mixture of bewilderment and amusement. The things that came out of the little girl’s mouth never ceased to amaze her. As they descended the stairs hand in hand, Rick appeared at the base smiling up at them.
“Hi Daddy! Mommy’s up.”
“There’s my princess. We were looking all over for you.” Rick scooped Colette up in his arms. “Did you wake Mommy? I told you she was tired.”
“I didn’t wake her up.” She rapidly shook her head, her brown eyes wide and earnest. “I was only watching her sleep. Then she woke up and held her chest like this.” Colette tried to mimic, Michonne’s petrified facial …show more content…

Her throat tightened at the memory of him. “Well, I met him outside a house party in London and somehow we became great friends after that. He was my best friend and he still is.”
“But Grandma Winnie didn’t want you to be friends?”
Michonne sighed. Her son never did drop subjects easily. “Yes, but it’s more complicated than that. A lot of things were going on with all of us. It was just bad timing.”
Carl motioned with his hand for her to continue. “Things like…”
“You’ve heard about my brother Amare.”
“Oh yeah. André’s doppelgänger. You guys never really talk about him. “What does that have to do with you and Dad? Did he know your brother?”
Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to fall. She laughed humorlessly. “Being back here sure brings back a lot of memories.” She pressed her fingers against her lips, thinking back on the day Rick met Amare. “Your father was such a troublemaker. But, at the same time he was very sweet. He was caring and he loved fiercely.”
“Look at you getting all sappy,” Carl teased, exaggeratedly jutting out his bottom lip at batting his eyes at her.
“Quiet,” she laughed. “You want to hear about it or