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ChapterOne
“Dad, have you left yet?” I throw the pink flowery covers off of me and jump out of bed.
I stop moving for a moment to listen for any sound coming from the living room.
Nothing. Not even Dad’s Mozart record could be heard drifting through the air.
Dammit, I knew better than to start a new book so late last night. I have no quitting sense and now I may have missed an opportunity to see Dad before he left.
I grab a shirt to slip on top of my thin tank top as I grab the covers of the bed. My toe hits the corner of the bed frame.
“Damn that hurts!” I hobble to try to get the pain to go away. This is what I get for sleeping in and having to rush.
I scold myself. “Shirt first, then make the bed, Arabella.”
Fuck! That really hurt; my toe throbs in pain. I hope I didn’t chip the nail like I did last time.
One thing at a time. I can finish making my bed later after Dad is gone.
Swinging the door open, I run down the short hallway into the living room where Dad is hunched over the coffee table, trying to pack up the palm-size glass figurine.
A sigh escapes my lips as I take the glass figurine from his shaky hands. “Didn’t you hear me? I called out to you to see if you had already left.”
His hearing has been hit or miss lately, more miss than hit and that is just another worry that I have to carry around all day.
“I only have one delivery today, so I should be back in a few hours.” He says as the front door is opened.
“Be safe,” I say to Ed, who just walked in.
Ed is our neighbor that drives Dad around. Neither one of them should be driving at such an old age, but they enjoy each other’s company and Ed never drives at night. He hasn’t had a ticket or accident in almost two decades either, so I feel like Dad is safe with him.
Ed gives me a dramatic bow causing me to chuckle at his antics. “Always am.”
I make sure the gift is wrapped and protected in the box before handing the finished package to Dad.
He puts it in his jacket pocket and hugs me. “I’ll stop by the market and get you another rose.” He places a kiss on my forehead and follows Ed out the front door.
After locking the front door, I head back to my room to make my bed. I fix the plain pink sheet and then the flowery cover and place my pillow on top. My gaze moves to the top of my dresser where the mysterious rose lays.
It is so enchanting. Every night I place it on the windowsill as it seems to glow in the moonlight.
Dad thinks they are just ordinary roses, but I tend to think otherwise. I’ve never seen a glowing rose before. It’s almost as if there is a sort of magic humming through it.
Of course, that is absolutely absurd because magic is just something that is in fairytales.
My finger rubs against the velvety soft petal that is wilting. From past experiences, this rose only has another day or two before it completely fades away. At least the other three that dad has given me have only lasted a few weeks.
I quickly change into shorts and a tank top and head outside. I fill up a bucket with the chicken feed and spread it around their coop. While they are eating, I add more hay inside the chicken house and check on the sitting hens.
Farm chores are boring and redundant, but they need to be done. If I didn’t keep up with the farm, we would have lost the house years ago. The eggs and milk alone bring in enough money every week to pay the monthly house payment.
The additional money we earn from the farm is used to pay the back payments that were stacking up after Mom disappeared.
Dad was distraught, he stopped making custom glass orders and the bills started piling up. The bank was ready to take the house, but I begged and pleaded and got my ass in gear.
I took over the farm and Dad went back to making custom glass figurines. We are in a good place right now, financially.
Emotionally, Dad has shut off all emotions while I am too exhausted day after day to invest in a quality relationship.
