A Glimpse of the Story

Our Vacation

this snippet is based off of the whisper app confession. i was somewhat inspired by it and decided to write this.

----------

I remember when my mother and father would fight over bills, money, and my mother's drug abuse. I remember peaking my head over the railing of the stairs that lead to the living room and seeing my mother's red face and bloodshot eyes while my father sat on our old brown couch with his head in his hands. My mother would be out of breath by the time i woke up and got out of my room. My dad's eyes were sometimes bloodshot but not because he was doing drugs, but because he had been crying of frustration.

My father was a commercial pilot, he was gone for days at a time but he always managed to come back. While he was out flying planes and helicopters to get money for the bills, my mom was here using the money for it on her drugs. My dad tried to get her help without turning her into the cops but it never worked.

She would leave with about three hundred to five hundred dollars for 3 days and come back shot up with any drug that her dealer could get her.

I always asked my dad why he stayed with her, to which he would reply with "because i love her." and give me a stern look that told me not to ask any more questions. And i didn't, but from time to time i would ask him again to see if his answer would ever change but it never did.

But then one day it became too much for my dad, he had just picked me up from school because my mother had forgot to.

-9 years ago-

It was about 6:30 and the sun was setting, mom forgot to pick me up from school. She was 4 hours late, nothing unusual. Mom would come get me in a few minutes, i would tell myself. I looked up at the sky as i sat down on the curb and waited for her. Everyday i would see the same colors pink, purple, yellow, and sometimes red. I never got tired of it though.

A few hours before my teacher and every other faculty member that passed by me asked if someone was here to pick me up and if i wanted them to stay with me til my mom or dad came. I would politely decline and give them the brightest smile i could muster and tell them that my mom would be here in a few minutes.

Of course they believed me, infact i was so good at telling that lie i eventually believed myself. While i waited for my mom i got out my homework and finished it all without any help, not that i could get any anyways. Finally about an hour and ten minutes later a car stopped at the curb and out came my dad.

I got up and dusted myself off. I put all my papers and my lunch pail in my backpack and opened the door to the car as my dad helped me get myself situated like he always did. But this time it was was different, when he helped me into the car he was happier than usual. He took me to go get ice cream at the parlor.

I remember him smiling the widest smile he had in the longest time, his eyes crinkled, it was a real smile. His eyes had a glint of happiness like he would finally be free from all his misery. He looked younger than he really was because he didn't have a frown attached to his face like he usually did. So i asked him "why are we here? What's the occasion?" because we didn't go get ice cream just any day. I knew it had to be special.

" i have a surprise for you!" he said tapping my nose in a playful manner with a grin.

I remember having a small grin of my own when he did that. I gasped "what! Really?"

My dad's mood would always affect mine if he was happy, so was I. If he was frustrated then for some unknown reason so was i. That's just how it was for us.

"Yup." he popped his P when he said that. "I'll tell you when we get home."

"Oh cool!" i was so happy that i had forgotten about my mom, not that she was worth remembering.

And so we sat and talked while eating our ice cream for about an hour that night. When we finished we got back into the car and went home singing to any and every song that was playing on the radio.

When we got home we both hopped out of the car and walked to the front door, well actually i skipped to the door as my dad walked at a nice steady pace. When we got in i could smell the cannabis that my mom would smoke, usually on Fridays. And today was Friday but mom was nowhere in sight, i didn't ask my dad either. "So what's the surprise dad?" i asked excitedly.

My dad bent down and said "we are going on a vacation!" my eyes lit up. "And we are going to play a game while we pack!" he said with enthusiasm. he grabbed these boxes out of the closet that was by our door along with my pastel pink suitcase.

"Ok!" said excitedly. I always liked playing games especially when dad was playing with me.

"But there's a rule." he had said. I turned so that i could see my dad as he explained the rule. "Ok, the rule is that you have to put as many things into these boxes before the hour is up. try to get every thing from you room into these boxes ok?" i nodded quickly while biting my bottom lip in anticipation. "and if you win ill take you to 7/11 and buy you a Slurpee and some chip."

"Let's start dad! I'm ready to win!" i yelled excitedly. He grabbed the timer that was in the kitchen and set it to an hour. And i got to my "mark" which was the bottom the stairs.

"Ready!" i got into an athletic position "set!" i bent down like the track athletes did,"go!" when he yelled that, i practically flew upstairs with the boxes in my hand.

I was always very competitive when i was younger. I never had friends but that never bothered me. I either got on the swings, raced other kids on the blacktop or read books that were meant for middle schoolers to read, not 4th or 5th graders.

By the time i was finished i had five minutes to spare. My suitcase was all packed along with my boxes of toys, books, school awards and other miscellaneous things. Dad was sitting on the couch typing away on his laptop when i shrieked "DONE!".

He looked up at me with his reading glasses on and congratulated me on winning the game that he had made for me.

He quickly packed everything up in his car, and made us some food before we left.

Again when we got into the car he helped me in and this time he put my blanket and pillow there so i could sleep. "This is going to be the best vacation ever!" i screamed from the back as my dad gave me a weary smile through the mirror.

"Sure is kiddo." he replied.

Little did i know that this vacation would last forever, without my mom.