I couldn't help but remember the last moments we shared together, there she was, riding on a white pony with her blond hair falling perfectly on her shoulder as the sun shone brightly on her face and her smile made it all perfect. After the ride she came up to me and held my hand, then we walked silently, watching the ocean dance rhythmically to the songs the wind played. It was beautiful, so much so that we didn't have to say any words.
We sat there and watched the sun set, the clouds and every other part of nature started to retire to their various homes leaving us with darkness. Even the noisy chattering of the other people around the beach was no longer heard, everything was silent, the moon came out in it's full glory and the stars payed homage to it. I just stared at her and she noticed me, smiled and hugged me tightly. Then I brought out a tiny box from my jacket.
"What's that dad?", She asked with a new spark in her eyes.
"It was your mother's", I brought out the necklace and the moon directly reflected on it. It was the diamond necklace I had given to my wife on the night of our first anniversary, it was a rare gem.
Faith just stared as the chain dangled in my hand for a while and as if coming back to her senses, she took it from my hand and hugged me tightly.
"This is really beautiful dad but I don't deserve it", she finally said and handed the necklace back to me. Without saying any word, I put the necklace back in the box. Then I looked at my daughter, she looked so much like her mother. They used to be so close, Faith would chatter on about things I had no idea about but then her mother always had a way to join in on the conversation and they'll both talk for house while I sat there and observed them.
"Honey, you deserve a lot more than this, but it's ok if you're not ready to have it." I could see tears running down her eyes and I could understand why, no one deserved to be left in a fighting ring with cancer. It was an unfair fight which most people lost, my wife was no exception. Life would have been a lot more if she was still here, but there's no use crying over spilled milk.
Remembering now, it felt like I could have said a lot more to my daughter, to comfort her and tell she was going to make a great doctor but then I'm not a man of two many words. It's been five years now and I can't help but wonder how slowly time has passed. I miss my wife, I miss my daughter and I really wish I could change what happened. Living a lonely life hadn't always soothed me at all even if I wasn't much of a chatterbox, I still loved being around people I love....
"Dad???", I heard a familiar voice call out to me, I turned slowly and something came flying into my arms.
"Faith!, What.....what are you doing here?, Is something wrong??", I asked still short of words.
After the hug, she scrutinized me from head to toe, noticing how much my hair had turned grey and my blue eyes had become darker over eye bags that now carried them. I was still as tall and musculine as ever, wearing a black t-shirt and a matching short revealing my athletic legs that made me look the more younger. There was a certain sadness in my eyes and I'm pretty sure she saw them, but instead of saying anything she just hugged me again.
"I think I might need that necklace now, because...", as she spoke, a figure started to form in the shadows, an handsome and we'll shaved young looking man, almost the splitting image of me when I was younger (ok, he's a lot finer, taller and clearly has more fashion sense) appeared.
"Dad, meet Luke, we're getting married". I could hear the excitement in her voice and saw the happiness in her eyes as the little girl I had once known is now a grown woman.
Thank you for reading this, if you enjoyed it or it connected to you in a way, I invite you to drop a comment, I'll be glad to reply and Upvote for more content ❤️