The voice of the nocturnal animals at night, was my favourite part of the day. It was the only time I could take a breather and cry the pain I had been carrying for years. It was the only time I'd let just a little bit of my burdens lift from my shoulders. I stared at the smiling moon that shone upon the lake in front of me. That glow.. how it glistened amongst the waters like sapphires... it mesmerised me, soothing to my heart.
"Hey, Dad?"
A familiar voice slipped through the back door and snuck up on me crying on the porch. I looked back to find her eyes filled with worry, those gorgeous green eyes, saddened and confused.. and I was the reason. I quickly wiped my eyes to prevent her from worrying, but clearly, that didn't work.
"You need to come inside now.. it's getting cold" she spoke in a quivering whisper, as if she was going to say something but stopped herself in time from proceeding to do so. I slowly stood up with my eyes locked on hers, but she looked to the ground in an instant. "My girl, you should've been in bed hours ago. It's almost 3AM already.. come on" With that, I shooed her away with my arms, even though I was going to come inside anyway, before closing the door behind me. Ricochet scurried to the couch and perched herself against the armrest with a blanket wrapped around her body, making it clear that something was disturbing her.
"My girl, there something you needa tell me?" I say in a curious tone, but I'm sure she took it off as a suspicious expression than a curious one. She tilted her head towards the floor, making her hair fall and drape past her eyes, which meant she was gonna make me wait at least half an hour in silence before she'd speak up. But to my surprise, she took a deep breath, and told me what was on her mind.
"You've been.. spending more time outside more than usual than before we moved here... and it's.. bugging me."
I'm sorry, what?
"What do you mean it's bugging you?"
"I mean, I feel like you're being a hypocrite here."
Woah okay, now, where did this come from? Me being a hypocrite? Seriously, child?
"Look, kid, I think you really need to go to sleep now. Your head's doing yourself in and now you're speaking gibberish." I say dismissively, turning my gaze to the jug before boiling it.
Ricochet stood up silently, staring at my back angrily. I knew she was mad at how I just put our conversation to an end just like that, I could see it in the way her face stayed neutral yet her eyes and sometimes her head twitched. She wasn't angry, she was pissed. And she was trying not to make that obvious.
Well, at least she tried.
I made myself a late night coffee and took a sip, scrolling on my phone tauntingly. I knew she was waiting for me to speak, and I was waiting for her to speak up too. But I wasn't going to let my integrity go, so I did what I knew would piss her off even more and stood there, sipping at my coffee with irritating slurps, and every now and then would I glance at her face to see her reaction at my obvious attempts. It wasn't until she quietly walked off into her room without a word did I realise I fucked up.
Ricochet isn't a sensitive girl, but when she knows that she's in the right, she'll get emotional if the other isn't justified but tries her hardest not to show it, not yet realising that that behaviour makes it obvious to her father that she's upset.
"Damnit.." I whisper under my breath as I heard her quiet foot steps reach her room before hearing her door close gently with a click. Oh for fuck sakes, ofcourse, I did it again. I went a bit far with her, I should've let her finish but I was too tired to. I didn't need another sob story about how school sucks, how she misses home. We moved in around two years ago already, is she that attached to the old place?
No. That clearly wasn't it. Something else was on her mind, that must've been the reason she didn't tell me at dinner, I'm sure of it.
(Sorry the part is a bit short! I just wanted you guys to understand just a little bit of the father and daughter's life style! I'll keep writing though! And please support my work too, I'm a new writer and just a beginner too so don't mind if it's a bit messy. Feedback would be much appreciated as well! Thank you for taking time into reading this! <3)
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A Father's Journey Of Renewal And Embrace
General FictionA young, twenty-eight year-old father, with a fourteen year-old daughter, tries his best in carving a path for his family to follow, trying to find a way to push past his wife's death that occurred when Ricochet turned six, and to be a good father t...
