It was just a Ball

“Yay! I win!” I squealed throwing my arms up into the air. Daddy lied there on his back pretending to be sad on being defeated, “Oh no Rose beat me again!” We were having our daily wrestling match. He would lie back on the bed and I would sit on his belly and we would wrestle with our hands. I had to win obviously, or he would have to deal with a big tantrum. Well I was five; so it was fair I guess. Then we would both get up and go make dinner together. Daddy was a wonderful cook. He would make everything so tasty for me. And I would sit at the tall stool at the kitchen counter and help him. We made something new everyday and we would give the dish funny names and laugh at it. Daddy would look at me intently as I had the first bite and wait patiently for the verdict. “Its fantastic Daddy! I love it!” “If my little angel likes it then I need nothing else at all,” he would say with a broad smile.

I missed mommy sometimes. So when daddy put me to bed, I’d ask him, “Daddy where is mommy?”

“Well mommy left for work one day and didn’t come back.”

“Why not?”

“Because she doesn’t know how precious my little angel is.”

“Will you leave too?”

“Never my little angel.”

It happened when we were having our monthly barbecue. Daddy was very good at those. It was our thing and I loved it. I was playing in the lawn with my ball when suddenly it slipped and bounced off the curb towards the road. I ran after it. As soon as I caught it I heard a screeching noise and turned to saw a big car behind me. The last thing I heard was a horn.

When I opened my eyes I saw that everyone was standing quietly with long faces and looking at something in the middle of the road. It was daddy. He was holding me tightly in his arms, sitting dead silent in the middle of the road and was rocking slightly; like he used to when I was little, to put me to sleep. His face had turned white as if all the blood had drained away and his eyes were completely blank. My ball had now rolled on to the other side of the road. Then I saw that my face was covered in blood. I wondered why no one was helping him. So I went up to him and sat down beside him. I heard him whisper to himself, “It was just a ball.” I held his hand. He didn’t look at me and smile anymore. But I would never leave him.