Post by @the.archive04

Tears rolled down my eyes as I sat beside the cold grave at 9 Mile cemetery in Port Moresby. The red dust covered my blue graduation gown, but I didn't care. I held my university degree in my hands, crying so hard because the one person I wanted to see it wasn't there. Growing up was so hard for me and my little sister Shirley. Our dad left us to start a new family, leaving my mom alone to take care of us. She tried her very best, selling small ice blocks on the streets just to keep us alive. But things got worse when Shirley got sick with TB, and mom started getting weak from working too hard in the cold and heat. I couldn't stand seeing them suffer. I tried working as a carrier at the market, but carrying heavy garden bags all day only gave me K45 or K60, which wasn't enough for food and Shirley’s medicine. So I made a bad decision. I started selling K2 rolls of marijuana on the street. The money was fast and easy, and I could finally buy food and drugs for my sister. Mom found out and cried, begging me to stop. She warned me that the police would catch me and ruin my education. But I didn't listen because I was desperate. Then the worst day came. I was at the wrong place when police rounded up boys for pickpocketing a policeman's daughter. I didn't steal anything, but when they searched me, they found K254 worth of weed on me. They beat us up badly and locked me away. Because we were poor, my mom couldn't afford my bail. My mom’s heart completely broke. With me in prison and Shirley getting worse, the stress and depression were too much for her to handle alone. She felt like she had failed. A few weeks after visiting me, she couldn't take the pain anymore and ended her own life with an overdose. When they told me in prison that mom was gone, my whole world ended. It was all my fault. If I had just listened to her, she would still be alive. Now, 12 years later, I finally finished university like she always wanted. But as I stood by her grave, holding my degree, the victory felt completely empty. "Mom," I sobbed, placing the paper on her grave. "I'm so sorry I didn't listen. I got the degree you dreamed of. I will be a good man now, I promise... I just wish you were here to see it."@asia #fypシ #pngtiktok🇵🇬 #shortstory