Today when I woke up, I didn’t feel too good. Usually I’m happy on Saturdays; but today I just didn’t feel right. Even my mom didn’t wake me up. She must have overslept. My dad always tells her to rest but she insists that on Sunday she gets her fair share of sleep (she’s a lawyer).
I got up from my bed and went to their room. It was then that I did something totally foreign to me: I knocked.
“What’s going on with you guys?” I asked,peeking my face into the room.
“Come on in”, my dad said with a grin.
“Hey dad” I replied blankly, walking over to their bed where my mom was covering her face with a pillow.
“Hey Clair-Bear”
“What’s wrong with mom?” I looked over to my dad, who was sitting on his favorite couch in the corner. I have never understood why he loved that chair. It was bright orange with no arm rests.
“She doesn’t feel well today”
I sat on the bed beside her. “Don’t worry mom. You’re not the only one feeling fuzzy today. I don’t feel too good, myself.”
My dad interrupted, “Well maybe I should take you both to the doctor.”
“ No honey, I’m fine. Just give me another hour. Besides, you are a doctor; you should be able to see that I am fine,” my mother’s voice muffled under the pillow.
“I’m good too.” I commented too quickly, so my father began to smirk.
Laughing he replied, “But if you don’t get better I will have to take you to the doctor.”
My mom exposed her face from underneath the pillow, “You hear that Donna?”
(Oh, in case you’re wondering why my parents call me two different names, it is because when I was born my mom wanted me to be called “Donna” but my dad wanted “Claire”. Neither one of them would shrink down, so they just call me “Donna-Claire,” as a compromise.)
“I meant you too darling.”
“But SAM, I’m fine.”
“No you are not. And if this persists, I am taking you both to the doctor.”
With a sigh my mom covered her face again. My dad looked at me with a smile.
“What dad?”
“I was thinking about your Christmas present.”
“It’s not Christmas yet.”
He patted his lap, just like when I was a kid. Then, I would run over to him waiting to be lifted, now I just walk over and sit.
“I need to tell you something” he whispered.
I whispered back, but I could hear vividly the confusion in my voice. “What is it?”
“You remember where my safe is?”
“Yes, why?”
“Well—“ he stopped for a moment.
“Well?” I questioned, looking directly in his eyes.
“The code is your name.”
I didn’t know why my dad was telling me this; but I was excited. I’ve always wondered what was in the safe. I’ve pondered about it since I was at least four—usually my guesses involved some sort of candy.
My dad stood my up from his lap and walked us out of the room. I followed him to the sitting room where he sat on the two-person, tan couch.
“Dad, what’s going on?”
“Nothing” he smiled.
“Then why did you tell me the code then?” I searched his face for answers, but he just looked down at his lap. My heart was pounding. Why was I so scared?
“Your present is in there” he finally said.
“So? You can give it to me yourself. Christmas is next week” I said sitting on his lap.
“Yes, but in case something happens.”
I looked up at his big, blue eyes. “Something like what?” My vision blurred as tears formed in my eyes.
“Claire, you know that I love you very, very much.” He pulled me closer to his chest and I hugged him, crying now. “Daddy, what’s going on?”
“No matter what happens, Claire-bear, I want you to know that I will always love you.”
“Daddy!” I cried into his blue cotton shirt.
“Please don’t be upset, darling. Everything is going to be okay.”
“I love you, daddy.”
“I love you too, my Claire-bear.”
I sat there on my father’s lap until I fell asleep; when I woke up I was in my bed. I got up for a second and went to their bed room but they weren’t there. I knew they always hung out in the kitchen; I found them eating there.
“Hey honey” my mom said chewing her food.
“Hey mom, why are you guys all dressed up?”
“Your dad is taking us out.”
My dad was always busy, so it made me happy when he took the time to spoil us.
#################################
I took a shower and since I didn’t know where we were going, I just put on a pair of vans, light blue faded shorts, and a light, Mickey Mouse hoodie. I didn’t want hair in my face, so I tied it up in a messy bun. When I was done, I looked at myself in a body-sized mirror. I looked just like my dad: black hair, blue eyes. Well at least I had my mom’s awesome body—the hourglass figure and curves, even though I am fat and ugly.
“Donna!” my mom yelled.
“I’m coming!”
My dad was already in the car. Today wasn’t normal: my dad let me buy anything I wanted, he took us to the fun fair, and then we finished off with dinner at my favorite restaurant.
We were driving home, chatting happily and laughing, when suddenly I heard a horn ranting. The lights were so bright I didn’t even see what was coming. Next thing I knew, there were police and ambulance lights—I felt like everything was moving too slow. People were screaming. I looked to the side, only to see my father on the stretcher motionless.
There was so much blood and I couldn’t scream. I wanted to run to my dad but I couldn’t move, let alone made a sound.
The next time I awoke, I saw more bright lights. There was no one in the room. I looked at myself in my reflection, and I wasn’t hurt at all; so what was I doing there? I tried to get up, but my arm stung before I could get any distance. I looked at it and found a pink cast. GREAT, my arm is broken. I walked slowly out of the room to the reception’s desk.
“Sam Ivory please,” I ordered.
She eyed me with concern, “Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?”
“He is my dad. I need to see him,” I said as tears swelled up in my eyes.
“Ok” she relied, taking me there.
When I saw my father, he didn’t look that bad either. He only had a few bruises on his face. He smiled weakly as I approached him.
“Dad,” I said holding his hand, he held onto mine tightly, “you are gonna be okay.” I smiled.
“No, honey” he smiled. “Doctors say I’m not going to make it. I was just waiting to see you for the last time.”
“But you only have a few scratches!” I started to cry.
“Tell your mother I love her very much.”
“Daddy!” I cried.
“I love you Claire-bear and I—, I—…” Then the machines fell into a long beeping sound. I screamed like a choking goat, yelling:
Daddy, Daddy wake up!
****-
After spending almost two weeks in the hospital, me and my mom were discharged. My dad was buried and we had to move to a small town where my dad had bought a house before he passed. I hated the fact that we had to move—mywhole life was here. I didn’t really have a lot of friends. Not everybody liked me here, but it’s better than being a freak over there. But I had no choice. Most of the stuff was already gone, and me and my mom were picking up the last things.
The new house was nice. There was green grass stretching out to the forest, and it was really beautiful. Even our old furniture looked better here. The kitchen was lime green and grey, (my mom insisted on bringing her own kitchen cabinets) and our tan couches brought the seating room to life with all of the natural light coming from the big window.
My room was upstairs. It was very bright in this house and had lots of natural light. When I looked out my window, there was a huge tree not too far from here. I was impressed; my mom had done a great job.
As I sat on my bed admiring the beautiful view outside, I thought about my dad. How it would have been if he was here with us. I held back the tears that swelled up in my eyes. I had to be strong for my mom.
We had dinner at about 20:00 like he always did. Sitting across the table from my mom, eating dinner, was the only thing that let me know she was getting better. I had noticed that now she could look at me and truly smile without bursting into tears. We were both trying very hard to be strong for eachother, and it was getting easier each day.
After dinner, I went straight to my bedroom. I was so tired that I didn’t even bathe first. I just climbed into the bed with my shoes still on. But there was a problem, I couldn’t sleep. I could hear whispers, each saying different things at the same time. Then there was the wind that kept swaying, the tree outside going back and forth. The tossing, swaying branches formeddisturbing patterns on my wall. It was like it was alive. I decided that maybe if I had a hot bath I would fall asleep faster. By the time I got out of the bathroom, the blackness of the night had set. Not being able to decipher my surroundings, I threw myself on my bed and fell asleep immediately.