Post by Carissa on Jan 14, 2008 6:15:05 GMT -5
Note: The idea just popped into my mind today. So I thought I just posted this story right away. I didn't arrange the plot for this short story so ideas, feedbacks, or anything are opened to improve the story. Thanks for reading!
That evening I sat alone and quietly in his bedroom. I was reading some of his favorite superheroes comic books. Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spiderman; these comics spread untidily on my bed. Yes, I do love reading comic books in my leisure time, especially superheroes comic books.
That day, I felt such strange feelings. I didn't know exactly what that was. But I thought it was some kind of two mixture feelings. I felt happy, since I just turned 12 today. In the other side, I felt something strange - something that told me that everything wasn't about to go smoothly as it was, well, maybe something bad would happen.
Your daddy won't come home
Mysterious voice echoed in my mind, but I didn't care about that, all I knew was that dad would go home soon and later he would take me to the fair near my house in Texas. Yes, there was a brand new small fair opened this summer and luckily, it wasn't too far from my house, since it was only 6 blocks away. It only took around 10 minutes to go there on walk.
I believe dad wouldn't break his promise.
I had spent hours in my room reading my comic books, waiting for dad to come. But he didn't show up until 8 o'clock. For several times I took a glance at my Mickey Mouse clock on the wall and later turned to the window, to see that the sun had set.
Your daddy won't come home
Dad supposed to arrive now, even he should have arrived since an hour ago, just as he promised me this morning. But again, he didn't show up and I started to feel desperate.
In my family, Dad was always the busiest. He worked in a big company in which the office was located in Dallas, which was only 10 miles away from my house. He was an accountant in his company. I didn't know what an accountant was, but I believe it might be something related to money.
So yeah, he was always busy and not pretty seldom to go home late. Even this summer, he still needed to go to his office to finish his work but went home earlier.
My mom was just a housewife, my 18 year-old brother, Joe, had just graduated from high school and now looking for a job - decided not to continue his education to college - and I was only a primary school student.
Bored to be in my room for hours, I decided to go downstairs to see what my mom was doing. Joe was out that evening with a couple of his friends, as usual.
"Mom." I said as I brushed my eyes, being in my room for hours seemed to have made me feeling sleepy.
Mom realized that I was already in the kitchen, watching her washing the dishes for dinner. She stopped her activity for a moment and came to me.
"Hello my little tiger." mom bowed and caressed my hair. "I haven't seen you this evening. Were you sleeping upstair?"
I shook my head. "I'm just wondering when dad will come home." I answered, still brushing my eyes. "He promised me to take me to the fair tonight."
"Oh, Richard." my mom said, caressing my hair. "You know how your daddy is. He's busy earning money for our family."
My mom always said that everytime I asked her whether what time dad would go home.
"But he promised to me." I insisted. "He promised to take me there at 7 o'clock, but it's already an hour late."
"Calm down honey, I'm sure he'll be here sooner or later. Maybe he's stuck in traffic jam."
Mom examined my sad and disappointed expression. "Tell you what, I'll take you there after we finish the dinner." he tried to cheer me up.
"I want to go with dad. It's been a long time since he hasn't taken me out."
It didn't work, however, since dad worked as an accountant, I hardly spent most of my time with him. He always went home late.
"Maybe watching TV will make you comfortable." mom tried to persuade me so I would be no longer sad.
I sighed. "No thanks mom. Maybe I should just go up and read some more comics."
"OK. I'll tell you if dad already comes home."
I was a little bit cheered up with mom's words. It was like she was confident that dad would go home soon. I went upstairs while I was seeing mom going to the living room and turned the TV on. No wonder, her favorite show was broadcasted at 8.
Your daddy won't come home
That voice echoed again, but again, I didn't care because dad would go home.
Not long after it, I heard a phone rang. Again, I took my eyes off my comic and rushed downstairs to pick it up, before mom did.
"Hello, Dad." I picked the phone up.
"Hello little tiger." I gasped, that was my dad's voice.
"Daddy!" I almost screamed in happiness. "Dad, I've been waiting for you for hours."
"Sorry, Richard, but I don't think I can come home and take you to the fair." his voice expression sounded not as usual, as if he was deadly tired or exhausted after finishing his work.
OK, now I was very disappointed. "But daddy, why? You've promised me."
"I know, I'm so sorry but duty calls."
"Dad...Dad...Dad!"
The line's broken and I could no longer hear his voice on the phone.
"What is it, Richard?" my mom went over to me. "Is Dad on the way home?"
"I don't think he is."
Dad would come home late again tonight. He broke his promise and now, he already let me down. Now, I was just about to go to my room again. Mom tried to calm me down, telling me that he would take me to the fair someday.
"I guess it's not just the time." she tried to calm me down.
"It's OK mom, I'm fine."
I went upstairs back to my room... and it wasn't until I heard mom was crying and sobbing. Yeah, I could clearly heard her voice crying from the second floor. She cried pretty loud. I quickly ran downstairs to find my mom was sitting on the sofa in the living room. She covered her wet, red eyes with her hands.
"What is it mom?"
I tried to ask but mom didn't answer. She pointed at the TV without looking at it. I turned myself to the TV to find out and what I found was something that was extremely shocking.
I saw a horrible view on TV. First thing I saw was a crashed car. Firstly I didn't know what it was about but what really most shocked me out was a picture of dad and blood went everywhere from his body. Yes, that injured man shown on TV was no other than my own dad.
The news didn't show lots of my dad's pictures from the accident. Then what I last saw was dad's body was taken and covered by a yellow plastic, later the body was taken by an ambulance.
"The victim of this car crash was killed straight away..."
I couldn't bear to hear more what the reporter said.
Your daddy won't come home
Yes, it indeed, he wouldn't come home. Even he wouldn't take me to the fair and later the phone rang. Certainly it wasn't from daddy so I didn't go to pick it up. Mom did.
It was from the police.
"Why... do you tell me about this now? While my.... husband had died nearly an hour ago." I noticed my mom was sobbing as she was speaking to the police.
What?! No, it was impossible. He was killed an hour ago but he just called me a few minutes ago. No, it couldn't be happening. And after a few minutes speaking with the police, mom hung up the phone and turned to me.
"The line had been busy for nearly an hour... so the police couldn't get to call here." mom explained. "Richard, it wasn't your dad that called a few minutes ago, wasn't it?"
"No mom, it WAS him. I'm sure about this. I'm not lying!"
That was when I realized all about the strange voices in my mind, trying to tell me that something was wrong. I also realized that maybe dad was the one who made the line had been busy for nearly an hour. Because he wanted to call me, to tell me that he couldn't be with me for the rest of my life again.
"OK then." mom wiped her tears. "I think your dad just wanted to say goodbye to you..."
* * *
That evening I sat alone and quietly in his bedroom. I was reading some of his favorite superheroes comic books. Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spiderman; these comics spread untidily on my bed. Yes, I do love reading comic books in my leisure time, especially superheroes comic books.
That day, I felt such strange feelings. I didn't know exactly what that was. But I thought it was some kind of two mixture feelings. I felt happy, since I just turned 12 today. In the other side, I felt something strange - something that told me that everything wasn't about to go smoothly as it was, well, maybe something bad would happen.
Your daddy won't come home
Mysterious voice echoed in my mind, but I didn't care about that, all I knew was that dad would go home soon and later he would take me to the fair near my house in Texas. Yes, there was a brand new small fair opened this summer and luckily, it wasn't too far from my house, since it was only 6 blocks away. It only took around 10 minutes to go there on walk.
I believe dad wouldn't break his promise.
I had spent hours in my room reading my comic books, waiting for dad to come. But he didn't show up until 8 o'clock. For several times I took a glance at my Mickey Mouse clock on the wall and later turned to the window, to see that the sun had set.
Your daddy won't come home
Dad supposed to arrive now, even he should have arrived since an hour ago, just as he promised me this morning. But again, he didn't show up and I started to feel desperate.
In my family, Dad was always the busiest. He worked in a big company in which the office was located in Dallas, which was only 10 miles away from my house. He was an accountant in his company. I didn't know what an accountant was, but I believe it might be something related to money.
So yeah, he was always busy and not pretty seldom to go home late. Even this summer, he still needed to go to his office to finish his work but went home earlier.
My mom was just a housewife, my 18 year-old brother, Joe, had just graduated from high school and now looking for a job - decided not to continue his education to college - and I was only a primary school student.
* * *
Bored to be in my room for hours, I decided to go downstairs to see what my mom was doing. Joe was out that evening with a couple of his friends, as usual.
"Mom." I said as I brushed my eyes, being in my room for hours seemed to have made me feeling sleepy.
Mom realized that I was already in the kitchen, watching her washing the dishes for dinner. She stopped her activity for a moment and came to me.
"Hello my little tiger." mom bowed and caressed my hair. "I haven't seen you this evening. Were you sleeping upstair?"
I shook my head. "I'm just wondering when dad will come home." I answered, still brushing my eyes. "He promised me to take me to the fair tonight."
"Oh, Richard." my mom said, caressing my hair. "You know how your daddy is. He's busy earning money for our family."
My mom always said that everytime I asked her whether what time dad would go home.
"But he promised to me." I insisted. "He promised to take me there at 7 o'clock, but it's already an hour late."
"Calm down honey, I'm sure he'll be here sooner or later. Maybe he's stuck in traffic jam."
Mom examined my sad and disappointed expression. "Tell you what, I'll take you there after we finish the dinner." he tried to cheer me up.
"I want to go with dad. It's been a long time since he hasn't taken me out."
It didn't work, however, since dad worked as an accountant, I hardly spent most of my time with him. He always went home late.
"Maybe watching TV will make you comfortable." mom tried to persuade me so I would be no longer sad.
I sighed. "No thanks mom. Maybe I should just go up and read some more comics."
"OK. I'll tell you if dad already comes home."
I was a little bit cheered up with mom's words. It was like she was confident that dad would go home soon. I went upstairs while I was seeing mom going to the living room and turned the TV on. No wonder, her favorite show was broadcasted at 8.
Your daddy won't come home
That voice echoed again, but again, I didn't care because dad would go home.
* * *
Not long after it, I heard a phone rang. Again, I took my eyes off my comic and rushed downstairs to pick it up, before mom did.
"Hello, Dad." I picked the phone up.
"Hello little tiger." I gasped, that was my dad's voice.
"Daddy!" I almost screamed in happiness. "Dad, I've been waiting for you for hours."
"Sorry, Richard, but I don't think I can come home and take you to the fair." his voice expression sounded not as usual, as if he was deadly tired or exhausted after finishing his work.
OK, now I was very disappointed. "But daddy, why? You've promised me."
"I know, I'm so sorry but duty calls."
"Dad...Dad...Dad!"
The line's broken and I could no longer hear his voice on the phone.
"What is it, Richard?" my mom went over to me. "Is Dad on the way home?"
"I don't think he is."
Dad would come home late again tonight. He broke his promise and now, he already let me down. Now, I was just about to go to my room again. Mom tried to calm me down, telling me that he would take me to the fair someday.
"I guess it's not just the time." she tried to calm me down.
"It's OK mom, I'm fine."
I went upstairs back to my room... and it wasn't until I heard mom was crying and sobbing. Yeah, I could clearly heard her voice crying from the second floor. She cried pretty loud. I quickly ran downstairs to find my mom was sitting on the sofa in the living room. She covered her wet, red eyes with her hands.
"What is it mom?"
I tried to ask but mom didn't answer. She pointed at the TV without looking at it. I turned myself to the TV to find out and what I found was something that was extremely shocking.
I saw a horrible view on TV. First thing I saw was a crashed car. Firstly I didn't know what it was about but what really most shocked me out was a picture of dad and blood went everywhere from his body. Yes, that injured man shown on TV was no other than my own dad.
The news didn't show lots of my dad's pictures from the accident. Then what I last saw was dad's body was taken and covered by a yellow plastic, later the body was taken by an ambulance.
"The victim of this car crash was killed straight away..."
I couldn't bear to hear more what the reporter said.
Your daddy won't come home
Yes, it indeed, he wouldn't come home. Even he wouldn't take me to the fair and later the phone rang. Certainly it wasn't from daddy so I didn't go to pick it up. Mom did.
It was from the police.
"Why... do you tell me about this now? While my.... husband had died nearly an hour ago." I noticed my mom was sobbing as she was speaking to the police.
What?! No, it was impossible. He was killed an hour ago but he just called me a few minutes ago. No, it couldn't be happening. And after a few minutes speaking with the police, mom hung up the phone and turned to me.
"The line had been busy for nearly an hour... so the police couldn't get to call here." mom explained. "Richard, it wasn't your dad that called a few minutes ago, wasn't it?"
"No mom, it WAS him. I'm sure about this. I'm not lying!"
That was when I realized all about the strange voices in my mind, trying to tell me that something was wrong. I also realized that maybe dad was the one who made the line had been busy for nearly an hour. Because he wanted to call me, to tell me that he couldn't be with me for the rest of my life again.
"OK then." mom wiped her tears. "I think your dad just wanted to say goodbye to you..."
THE END
