Now: Light

My memories of my dad are short and few. My only memories of him date back to when I was only five. That was when he actually started spending a significantly greater time with me and my sister. I never knew why, but as a young kid then, I was elated to have my own daddy play with me whenever I wanted him to; to be able to tell other kids in kindergarten “Hey, this is my daddy!” whenever he fetched me home.

Once, Dad brought Brenda and me out to a secluded little part of a patch of forest at night. It was dark, and the only source of light we had were the little fireflies that flitted to and fro. From then on, it became a regular thing for us to head out to the little corner of the forest, and watch the fireflies before we fell asleep.

Dad became weaker and weaker as I grew older, and I didn’t understand why. Mum would just smile at me, sadness in her eyes, and tell me that Dad would get better soon. We still visited the part of the forest we were beginning to call “our little corner of the forest”.

A month before Dad died, he brought me on my final trip to our little corner. By then, he was weak and frail, like an eighty-year-old when he was only thirty-seven. Then, Brenda was away at her friend’s house for a sleepover, so it was just Dad and me.

I held Daddy’s hand in mine, watching the fireflies fly around, lighting up the night sky. “Jess honey, Daddy needs to tell you something very important.” Daddy told me, squeezing my hand lightly.

I looked at him expectantly. “Well… Daddy… Daddy has cancer, Jess.” he slowly said, his lip quivering. “Cancer?” I asked him, confused. “Isn’t that what Grandpa had before he went to heaven, Daddy?”

He nodded, his eyes full of sadness. “Does Daddy need to go to heaven too?” I asked softly. “The doctors say Daddy doesn’t have long to be here. Daddy might go to heaven soon, to join Grandpa.”

That was when I saw the true light. The truth that Mum and Dad had been hiding from me so long.

A week later, Dad became so ill that he was stuck in bed all the time, unable to move from place to place without help. Three weeks of suffering later, he passed away in his sleep, leaving behind the three of us. And it wasn’t until I was ten that Mum and Brenda stopped lying to me that Dad “was in heaven”.

Because reality was, he was dead. And nothing could change that fact.

Next: Dark

A/N: Sorry for not updating for so long (for every story, omg)!! Lately I've been busy preparing for my form teacher's surprise birthday party - which is tomorrow! :D
I promise to update more in the near future, yeah? Meanwhile, enjoy the third instalment of this challenge! :)