A Readers Dream: Bearer of Bad News

Alyssa buried her head in Gene’s chest and let the hot tears flow down her face. She had to call her dad, to let him know. She wasn’t looking forward to the conversation. Alyssa wasn’t sure how much time passed before she was able to dry her tears. She washed her face before picking up the phone. It had been a while since she had spoken to her father, her birthday to be exact.

The phone rang for what seemed like an eternity. “Hi Alyssa,” her dad answered in a cheerful mood.

“Hi dad,” Alyssa said soberly not trying to disguise the pain.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have some bad news.” She wasn’t sure how to tell him.

“Are you okay?” She could hear the concern in his voice.

“No, Crystal and Mom were in a really bad car accident.”

“How bad? What hospital?”


“They didn’t make it.” Alyssa tried to hold back the tears, she didn’t want to cry over the phone. Her father was silent on the other end. She wasn’t sure how much he would mourn the loss of her mother, but he just lost a daughter. She listened to the quiet line, waiting for something. He was supposed to comfort her, not the other way around.

“I’ll be on the next flight out.” He finally replied.

“Thank you.” Alyssa needed him, as much as she was independent she couldn’t do it on her own.

“I’ll call you from the airport.” The phone went dead after that. No show of love or emotion from her dad. He wasn’t that kind of guy, but she could count on him when it mattered. Alyssa sat on the couch numb to the world around her, what was the point of going on?

The brilliant sun streaming onto Alyssa’s face woke her. She looked around for a moment trying to get her bearings. She was still on the couch and in the same clothes she had been the night before. Her head was pounding and her stomach was growling. The events of the night before came flooding back to her, she was alone. She regretted the moments of hate she had harbored for her family. She loved them and now she would never get to see them again.

A burst of inspiration hit Alyssa, she could fix this. “Gene!” She yelled, even as the words were coming out of her mouth he appeared before her.

“I wish my mom, sister, and Thomas were alive.” Alyssa said without hesitation. Gene’s face fell, she had never seen him display emotion and she didn’t like what she was seeing.

“I’m sorry, I cannot do that.” He said simply.

“Why not?” She demanded. “I picked you because you have no rules, you have the world at your fingertips. Why can’t you bring them back?”


“They have passed beyond what I can control and grant.” Gene said with sadness in his voice.

“What good are you then?” Alyssa yelled throwing a pillow at Gene, he disappeared before it reached him. She felt betrayed, he was supposed to be the answer to all her problems and he couldn’t fix this. The tears started pouring from her face once more and she didn’t care to wipe them away.

Alyssa continued to sit on the couch, blankly staring at the wall until her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, it was her dad.

“Hello,” she answered glumly.

“Alyssa, I just got to the airport, can you pick me up?”

“Sure, give me a little bit.” The request brought Alyssa out of her mindless wonder and back to reality. She hadn’t seen her dad for over a year. This was not the ideal situation to be seeing him for, but it was all she had. Alyssa checked her face in the mirror, the mascara ran down her cheeks with lines from the constant tears. She went into the bathroom and scrubbed her face and reapplied a new coat of makeup. Her hair had been perfect since she wished it straight. One glimpse of her clothes told her they were passable, she didn’t bother changing.

Alyssa grabbed her purse and left without a word to Gene. Part of her didn’t care too, the other knew he was mad with her. He seemed to be linked to her somehow, if she needed him he was there.