Teen Ink

Goodbye Daddy

A gentle rain began to fall. My father was reading me "Goodnight Moon". It was my favorite story. I wanted him to read it to me over and over again. But he would always say, "Marnie, it's time to go to sleep." And that was what I would do. I would go to sleep and dream of the most impossible things. Friendly vampire balls, tea parties where the tea pot and cups talk, sometimes I would dream I was in a magical land where everything was made out of candy.
My father would go to the night shift at the gas station. We did not have a care in the world. But then my father met Ursula and everything went downhill. She was evil and vile. At least her son, Maxwell, was nice. He and I would play all day long then retire to our different rooms for the night.
That night did not seem any different from any other night. It was normal. I played King Arthur with Maxwell, Ursula made a horrid dinner, and my father read to me. Completely normal. But that night will be a night that I would never forget. That night my father was brutally murdered.
In the morning, I ran down stairs to wait for my father. Just like I always did. I waited for hours. But he never came. I waited and waited. Nothing. I began to get worried. When Maxwell asked to play, I turned him down. It was not until midnight when I heard the front door close. A smile grew on my face and I rushed downstairs.
But it was not my father. It was the chief of police, Officer Doyle. He was talking to Ursula. When they realized I was in the room, they both looked pitiful. I knew it was horrible if Ursula felt bad for me. I looked at them both. I needed to know what was going on.
"Marnie sweetie. Officer Doyle needs to tell you something." Ursula passed the truth telling torch to the police man who was my father's best friend.
His eyes widened and I waited for him to speak. An uncomfortable silence settled in all around us. It was so quiet that you could hear Maxwell talking in his sleep. A habit he still has today. I could tell he was searching for the words.
"Marnie, there's no easy way to tell you this. But, um, your father is dead. He was murdered." Officer Doyle told me.
Tears welled up into my eyes. I remember thinking that it was a a cruel, sick joke. My father could not be dead. It was only yesterday that he read "Goodnight Moon" to me. It was impossible to think he was dead. He could not. Not my father. Not Maxwell's step father. Not Ursula's second husband.
I remember I screamed and ran upstairs. I hid in my closet and cried. It was the worst day of my life. It was worser than the day my mother left my father and I for a college professor. The only people I had was Ursula and Maxwell. One of them hated me. It is easy to guess who that was.
It was unfair. I did not even get to say goodbye. The last thing he said to me was "Sweet dreams." I was forced to live the rest of my life with Ursula and Maxwell. Ursula was stuck with me until I left for college.
The next day, Ursula let Maxwell and I stay home from school. I overheard Ursula talking on the phone to someone. It turns out that my father was the fourth victim in a a series of brutal murders happening all around town. All of his blood was drained and he was nearly decapitated.
I felt warm, wet drops fall out of my eyes and run down my cheeks. Maxwell gave me a long hug. My father's murder was six years ago. They never found the killer. They never found the sick person who took away my father. The person who never let me say, "Goodbye Daddy."