A Readers Dream

Alyssa pulled the car up to the terminal pick up area. She spotted her dad on a double take, this was not the man she knew. His once dark hair had turned to gray, his weight much less then what she recalled. He looked as if he had been ill. She waved from the driver window, his searching eyes spotted her and he came her way. Alyssa braced herself, she didn’t know what to say. She got out and walked to the curb, her eyes downcast. She felt him approaching and looked up, no words were needed. He pulled her into his arms and they both began to sob.

“I’m so sorry pumpkin.” Her dad spoke first after a few moments.

“Oh dad, I’m so glad you’re here.” Alyssa cried into his shoulder. She knew she couldn’t do this alone. She didn’t know the first thing about what to do.

“Come on, let’s get home instead of making a public debacle.” Her dad eyed the people around them. Alyssa nodded and opened the trunk for his luggage.

“Can we go to your mothers house first?” Her dad asked as they got into the car.

“I haven’t been there since, and I don’t have a key.” Alyssa said.

“I do.” Her dad said holding it up in the air. Alyssa looked at him strangely. “For as many problems as your mother and I had we both realized we were getting older and if anything happened to either of us we needed to be there for you girls.” He explained. “I just never thought one of you would be gone.” He added softly.

“No one thought.” Alyssa commented. She knew someday her parents would get old and die. It was her sister that hit her the hardest. She could never imagine that Crystal would be gone. Her little sister, they were best buds as kids, even though Alyssa was always secretly jealous of her, she still loved her.

“Have you made any arrangements yet?”

“No, I didn’t know what to do.” Alyssa confessed.

“It’s okay, your mom has paperwork put together, I’m sure we can work out the details for Crystal from there.” Hearing her name made Alyssa shiver. She didn’t know what to say anymore. She didn’t say a word until they arrived at her mothers.

“What the heck?” Alyssa said louder than she realized. The front porch was covered with flowers and baskets. How did all of these people know when Alyssa had just found out herself? She didn’t even know her mother had that many friends. She turned to her father who teared up again at seeing the house, she couldn’t remember the last time he was here. Alyssa parked the car and the two sat silently in the drive, neither wanting to get out first. It was finally her dad who made the first move.

Carl stepped out of the car, the pain from the cancer still racking his body. He had to be strong and not let it show. Alyssa didn’t know about the cancer. He surveyed the house, she had made decorative touches here and there but it was the same. He really he thought he would be the first one gone and Sabrina would be there to comfort the girls. He looked back at Alyssa still in the car. He couldn’t begin to imagine what she was going through.

Carl made his way up the porch steps and looked the gifts that had been left. Flowers for Sabrina, cookies addressed to the family, a wreath for Crystal, and even more he couldn’t get to. He wiped the tears from his face, the outpouring of support was overwhelming.

He took a deep breath before opening the door. He hesitated, slightly scared that Sabrina was going to yell at him for coming in. It would however be a welcome sight. He pushed open the door, knowing it was empty and hating the fact that it was. Carl looked back at Alyssa before stepping inside, she was headed to the porch. Part of him wanted to let her go first, but he was her dad. He had to do this for her, just as much as he did for himself.

The house was different, but the same, the structure remained but everything else had changed. Sabrina had taken every sign of him out of the house. Every decoration, every furnishing spoke volumes and they all said Sabrina.

“Are you okay Dad?” Alyssa asked coming up behind him.

“It’s harder than I thought.” He said honestly. He looked at his daughter, she was not longer a child. He felt guilty for keeping his cancer secret from her but now wasn’t the time.

“It doesn’t feel real.” She echoed his feelings.

“What is that smell?” Carl got a whiff of something very rotten