**Diary Entry**
*Listen, Alice! You no longer have a mother or a father. You dont have a home either,* Mum replied.
Late that evening, the silence was broken by the phone ringing. Pauline picked it up from the table and heard her daughters voice.
*Mum, its Alice. I have a problem My husbands thrown me out. Ill come to you and Dad tomorrow morning and stay with you.*
*Listen, Alice. You dont have a mother or father anymore, nor a home.*
*What?* her daughter shrieked, as if she hadnt heard. *What do you mean? How can you say that? Im your daughteryour only one! I have every right to live in this flat!* Alices voice rose in hysterics.
*Thats how it is, love,* Pauline answered calmly. *The flat isnt yours anymore. Weve transferred it to Lucy. She owns it now, and your father and I dont want anything to do with you. Youre no longer our daughter.*
The call dragged onarguments, accusations, demands.
*Dont call here again! Youve lost everything!* Pauline ended the conversation sharply. After what Alice had done, she believed she had every right to say it.
Standing by the window, Pauline couldnt help but remember how another story had begun with a phone callone that had shattered the quiet of an early morning.
Shed jolted awake and grabbed the phone.
*Hello?*
A muffled sob echoed through the receiver.
*Whos there?*
*Its Christine.*
*Christine, whats wrong? Do you know what time it is?*
*I do. Im being admitted to hospital today for surgery. Im terrified for Lucy. Please, dont leave her aloneshes just a child. Dont let her go into care.*
Christine had always been unpredictable, full of wild ideas and impulsive decisions. But this time, shed outdone herselfor had something truly serious happened?
Pauline clutched the phone, her hands damp. Something terrible was unfolding, but she couldnt grasp it yet.
*Christine, why didnt you say anything sooner? Why now? Whats wrong? Which hospital?*
Christines illness had been eating away at her for yearssomething shed ignored until the last month, when shed grown gaunt, her face hollow. The doctors verdict was grim: emergency surgery. Shed hesitated before telling Pauline, whod always supported herfinancially, emotionally, practically a mother to her. Now, she was asking her to take in Lucy too.
*Pauline, the doctors arent making promises. Just hoping for a miracle. Pleaselook after Lucy.*
Within the hour, Pauline and her husband were at the hospital. Christine was already there, and the staff wouldnt let them see her before surgery. In the corridor, curled in a corner, was little Lucy. Pauline knelt to embrace her.
*Will Mummy be alright?* the girl sobbed.
*Yes, darling. Shell go to sleep, and when she wakes up, shell be healthy and smiling.*
But four hours later, the surgeon delivered the newsChristine hadnt survived.
Pauline took Lucy home, leading her to Alices room to explain: Lucy no longer had a mother, and Alice no longer had an aunt. The girls would live together now. Alice shot a furious glare but stayed silent.
A week later, Lucys things were tossed outside the door. Alice refused to share.
*Mum, this is my space! Why should I give her my wardrobe or half my room?*
To avoid drama, Pauline and her husband gave up their bedroom for Lucy and moved into the lounge. Lucy withdrew furthershed never known her father, and Christine had never named him. Now, her life depended entirely on Pauline and her husband, who tried to balance attention between their own daughter and their niece.
Years passed. Alice graduated university and married a wealthy older man. She packed her things and moved in with David without a second thought. A month later, she announced the wedding.
*Mum, just one thingI dont want Lucy there. I wont have her at my wedding.*
*Alice, you cant do that. Shes practically your sisternow your only one. Not inviting her would insult us too.*
*I dont care! I warned you!*
*Then we wont be there either.*
*Fine. Suit yourselves!* Alice snapped.
Pauline fought back tears but steadied herself, deciding to book a holiday in Cornwall instead.
*What about Alices wedding?* her husband asked.
*Not our concern. Lucy, help me find a hotelyoure better at this than I am.*
*Were really going on holiday?* Lucy asked.
*Yes, love. We deserve it.*
*Oh, thats wonderful!*
Time rolled on. Lucy finished school, excelled at universityjust like her mother. On her eighteenth birthday, Paulines husband collapsed. Doctors said his life depended on an expensive drug. Desperate, Pauline called Alice, knowing Davids wealth could cover it.
*Alice, love, your fathers dying. We need this medicineits frightfully expensive. Can you lend us the money?*
A long pause.
*Alright, Ill speak to David and call back.*
Hours passed before the phone rang again.
*Mum, heres the thingDavids promised me a car for ages, and nows the time. Either he buys it, or we give the money to you.*
*Alice, forget the car! This is your fathers life!*
*How will you pay us back? Youd be scraping for years. Id never get that car.*
*Do you hear yourself? This is your father!*
*Take out a loan. I cant help.*
Pauline nearly fainted. Lucy rushed to her side, holding her tight.
*Auntie, well sell Mums flat. I cant live thereits too painful. The money will save Uncle.*
*Darling, we cant. Its your inheritance.*
*Right now, all that matters is his life!*
Touched, Pauline agreed. The flat sold quickly, and the medicine arrived in time. Her husband recovered.
Grateful, they transferred their own flat to Lucy. They lived together, cherishing each day.
Then one evening, the phone rang again. It was Aliceher husband had left her for another woman. She begged to come home.
*We only have one daughterLucy,* Pauline said firmly.
Later, Lucy married Alex, a successful farmer with a spacious home. They invited Pauline and her husband to live with them, but the couple only visited, always welcomed in the cosy guest room. Alex and his father-in-law bonded over fishing.
Alice was only mentioned on her birthday. Pauline often wonderedhow had her own daughter grown so selfish, valuing possessions over family? While Lucy, whod lost everything, had given all she had to save theirs.
