Abigail was laying in her bed, reading a book, the sun streaming in. She turned the page in earnest, wondering what happened next, but she stopped abruptly as a name leapt off the page. Her heart dropped. She sighed sadly, slowly placing her book down, not even bothering to bookmark her page, she made her way over to her cluttered dresser. She rummaged around the mess of items strewn across the top, ignoring the loose change and spare hair ties that fell off, onto the ground. Her hand finally found what she had been looking for- a small, rectangular photo album. She gently ran her fingers over the foam letters that made up the title of the album. “You’re in my heart”. She opened it with care, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she looked at the first picture. The caption read: “Such a daddy’s girl”. A tear slowly made its way down her cheek. She blinked hard, forcing back the other tears that threatened to escape. Many a time had she read that caption, written in her very own father’s distinct, cramped, slanted writing. She flipped to the next page, and the next, and the next. She reached the last picture and watched the caption flutter to the ground. She knelt to retrieve it. She didn’t need to read this caption; she knew what it said already.
“Oh Daddy, why did you have to leave?” She whispered. She stood up and placed the album back on her dresser. The caption, she held tightly in her hand.
Abigail went back to her book, intending to find her page again. It wasn’t hard to find, but there it was again, staring at her, even mocking her; her father’s name: Carleton. She folded the corner of the page and put the book down. She sank to the ground and leaned against her wall. She opened her hand and, even though she knew it by heart already, she read the caption. “I’ll always be here for you forever.” She closed her eyes and recited those words in her mind again. Abigail couldn’t take it, in an instant, anger and sadness exploded inside of her. Lies. Those seven words meant so much to her, and yet they were all lies.
It had been nearly eight years since her father had left them when she was seven. He had accused her and her dear, beloved mother of ‘holding him back’. Abigail’s father never used to be that way. Everything had pretty much been perfect until the day that her uncle, his brother had been killed. Since then, her father hadn’t been the same, something had snapped. Perhaps it was the fact that he had always meant to make amends with his brother and never got the chance, or some other reason, but whatever it was, something had changed within him. He started coming home late, his breath smelling of alcohol. Often, Abigail would stand by her parents’ door and listen to them screaming at one another. He would leave every once in a while, for a few days at a time, usually to gamble, and he would always come back demanding money. It wasn’t long until her father lost his job and Abigail’s mother was forced to provide for the whole family on a minimum wage.
Never would Abigail have imagined it would turn out this way, but it seemed to get steadily worse with the passing days. Overtime, it seemed as if a dark void had been placed over their small house. It seemed like lifetimes ago when they played family games of cards or laughed together during a re-run of their favourite TV show. But in the time before the divorce, there was no laughter. It was like there were invisible walls driving a wedge between the three of them.
In the weeks leading up to the divorce, there was never a night when Abigail didn’t cry herself to sleep. She remembered that one August night when she said goodnight to her father and he wasn’t there in the morning, nor was he there for days after, weeks, months. Never did she stop missing him desperately, she felt as if he had torn out a part of her heart when he left. Whenever she would ask her mother where he had gone, a sad look would creep onto her face and she would shake her head despairingly, murmuring “You’ll understand someday”.
Abigail jumped as there was a soft knock on her door; it could only be her mother. She hastily rubbed her face, drying her tears. She shoved the caption into her pocket and cleared her throat, trying to keep her voice from trembling as she spoke.
“Hey mom, you can come in.”
Her mother entered. Abigail was trying to look busy; she pretended to be studying the back of a book she had randomly grabbed off her shelf. She pretended to casually glance up at her mom and smiled, only then did she notice that her book was upside down. Despite her best efforts, her mom could see right through he faulty disguise.
“It’s him again, isn’t it?” Her mother sighed, sitting next to her on her bed.
Abigail nodded, trying to hide her face as the tears began to spill out. “I never stop thinking about him mom.” She leaned against her mother, burying her face in her hair.
Her mother shifted to put her arms around Abigail’s shoulders, squeezing her gently, comforting her. “I know honey, it’s not just you.”
Abigail looked up at her mom, there had been a question she had always wanted to ask her mother, but she had never known how to word it just right. She sighed and took a deep breath,
“Mom, why did this happen to us? Why us?”
Her mother hesitated for merely a heartbeat before answering. “Remember what you asked me when you were barely six, after your grandfather died? Well, what did I tell you then?”
“You told me that no matter how horrible something seems, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Her mother nodded, smiling warmly. “Exactly. Things will always get better; God has a purpose for everything.”
For a brief moment Abigail’s eyes met her mother’s, and eight years of suffering was reflected there. The bed creaked as her mother got off, she placed her hand on the handle of the door, about to leave, but she turned to her daughter first.
“Honey, I will always love you, you don’t have to suffer in silence by yourself. Just remember that I will be here for you, you are never alone.”
YOU ARE READING
(You are Never) ALONE
Teen Fiction"Sometimes, when you're trying to find yourself, it takes more than just yourself to do it." It's a story about love, about hardships, about hope, but most of all about finding yourself especially when you never thought it was possible. Because ever...
