The Return of the Beloved Son

Sarah

Oki was a proud single parent. At her birth, his pride and joy of a daughter could fit into the palm of his hands.

Her tiny hands would grasp at a finger of Oki's and put it in her mouth. Her big eyes and cute face reminded him of everything in life that was pure, like an angel that was sent to bless him with happiness. But everything came with a price.

After 10 years of marriage Oki and his wife had finally decided to have a kid. Being a half-human and half-cat she was fierce and strong. That was something Oki looked for in his women. After 9 months their beautiful child was born, but his amazing wife had died giving birth.

Oki had wallowed in sadness for months, but stayed strong for his infant daughter. She had no idea what had happened since her underdeveloped brain couldn't comprehend the sadness he was hiding inside.

Oki never really got over the death of his wife. After 10 years he still found himself thinking of his wife, staring off into space wondering if she was judging his parenting skills as a father.

"Daddy, where are you?!" A sweet childish voice called to Oki from the front door.

The little girl, Sarah, removed her shoes at the front door and went to look for her father. Sarah placed her backpack on the kitchen table as she looked for her father there. Twirling a finger in her long black hair, Sarah wondered why her dad wasn't answering. When she found nothing in the kitchen she decided to look on the living room. Rounding a corner, Sarah was suddenly wrapped in two giant arms and lifted into the air.

"Raaaahhhh!" Holding his daughter in the air, Oki let out a playful yell. He held his head back to look into her eyes while spinning her in a circle.

Sarah laughed as she felt her dad lift her up and spin her around. When Sarah was finally let down she felt dizzy, wobbling around, side to side.

Sarah was giggling so much, she nearly bumped into the wall. Oki held her still, "Woah there, Sweetie. Maybe I shouldn't have spun you so fast."

Sarah, however, didn't feel like she had enough. Extending her arms towards her dad, she began to bounce on her feet, "No! More, more, I wanna fly!" Her eyes reflected the sunlight coming from the windows beautifully.

Oki agreed to her request and spin her around a few more times. Sarah, again, was left dizzy after another spin. Smiling like the proud father he was, Oki extended his hand to Sarah who was still giggling, "Come on, Sweetie. Let's talk about your day." Silently agreeing, Sarah grabbed onto one of Oki's fingers and led him to the kitchen.

Upon arriving to the kitchen, Oki pulled out a chair and lifted a smiling Sarah into it. Oki handed Sarah her backpack from the opposite end of the small table and let her empty it out. Notebooks, quills, ink, and papers fell out of the pack in a mess.

Oki pulled up a larger chair for him to sit in and sat next to Sarah, who rearranged everything and opened up her notebook. "So how was school, Sweetie?"

Opening her notebook up to a blank page, Sarah replied happily, "It was great! I got an answer right in class today and the teacher gave me candy!" Sarah looked at her dad with a proud expression like she had solved a world crisis.

Oki smiled brightly and rubbed his daughter's head, "That's my girl." Sarah made a purring sound out of satisfaction. It was one of the things that Sarah had inherited from her mother, the others being her cute looks and cunning smarts.

Oki looked over at what was on Sarah's notebook, but only saw a blank page. Oki gave a confused look, "So what is it we're working on today?"

Sarah pulled aside one of the pieces of paper. On it were numbers and various symbols. Oh no.