The Red Phoenix

The funeral was over. My dad went home while I went to a park close by. I sat on a bench there watching the surroundings. Tracy came and sat beside me. ”When my mum was alive she usually brought me here. We called it our Mother-Son spot. since I was mostly with you guys and my dad and not really paying her much attention. We would come here and we would talk about our lives. We usually did this every Tuesdays. ” I said without turning my face. I was feeling the cold wind blowing mildly and the view was excellent. This was one of my best places in Sunshine city.

”So your mum did tell you to apologize to me after our fight. ” She said after a minute of silence between us.

”Why would I lie about that? ” I asked her.

”Hmm. ” There was another minute of silence. Then Tracy broke it. ”You know Leo, I think this is the kind of time you should really get closer to your dad. ” She said plainly.

”Why did you say that? ” I turned to look her in the face. I agreed with her but I wanted to know the reason behind her statement.

”Well with my observation, you are taking your mums death lightly, no offence meant. But your dad seems really bummed about her death… I mean, this is the kind of time he needs you the most. ” She explained.

”I get your point but what if Im not enough? ” I asked.

”Then try harder. Look Leo, if you don get this thing right, you could lose your dad too. ” When Tracy made this statement, it put me in a difficult position. I looked at her in disbelief. I thought for a while and I realized she was right.

” Don worry yourself too much Leo. Ill be there to cheer you on and watch you move forward. You might not have your mom anymore, but you still have me. ” As Tracy said this she held my hand and put this cute look on her face. I put my second hand on our hands and I faced her. ” Thank you Tracy. ” I said. She nodded. ” Okay Leo. Lets go home now. ” She said. Tracy and I walked to my house. We talked on the road and held hands and then we got home.

”I should get going now. Ill keep in touch to know how good your dads doing. ” She said.

” Okay. ” I replied. I watched Tracy leave for her house. I went into the house but there was nobody in the living room. I went upstairs and checked my parents room and I found my dad. He was sitting on a chair in the room. He looked dazed and it was easy to tell he had been crying. ” Dad are you okay? ” I asked, knowing fully well that he was not alright. But I asked anyway. I didn get a response. He just kept on staring like a man who was dead but had his eyes opened. I was sad. Seeing him like this hurts me more. I turned to leave and then I remembered Tracys words. If you don get this right, you could lose your dad too.

”No. I will not let that happen. ” I said to myself. I then went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I went back to the room with the glass, placed it beside my dad.

”Here you go. Have some water dad. ” I said as I dropped the glass on his table. I wasn expecting a reply though. Suddenly ”Thank you son. ” My dad said. I was a bit shocked. He then gave me warm smile and returned to his former state. Tears rolled down his eyes and I pitied him. I wanted to cheer him up. I will look for methods to lighten his mood. Even if I have to resort to awkward ways. But how will I do that? I thought to myself and I finally got an idea. ”Dad, I don like to see you like this. It hurts me a lot. How about we try something different. ” I said. My dad looked at me and blinked like a confused cat. ” how about we play chess. I know you enjoy teaching me new moves. ” I said as I winked at him. He didn give any response. ” come on dad, please, pretty please, with some sugar, toppings and extra jelly on it! ” I begged. He still didn move and he just kept on staring straight. I decided to give up and I left the room. I went to my room, brought out the chess board, took it down stairs and started playing with myself. It wasn that interesting and it was unusually hard. You know the greatest enemy you can fight is yourself. You might one day beat someone stronger than you, or deceive someone stronger or better than you, but you can never defeat or deceive yourself. I suddenly heard a voice behind me. ” Maybe a little game of chess would lighten up the atmosphere. ” My dad said. I was delighted seeing him. He sat in front of me and he looked at the board. ” good to see you in a light mood dad. ” I said with a big smile in my face. ” Trust me, my mood is not in anyway good. ” He said and I suddenly felt sad again then he touched my head and I looked at him. ” But I cannot bear to see my only son hurt because of me. ” He smiled as he said this. My mood was lightened again. I smiled and then we started playing. His mood wasn that good when he played. I tried taking advantage of that but even with his bad mood, he still had the upper hand. Hes invincible when it comes to chess, checkers and probably scrabble. I doubt the scrabble though. I beat him trice once but that was the end of it.

We played three rounds and I was defeated throughout. On a norm I would have been angry but seeing him play with me made me happy a little bit. Even though his mood was awful, at least it was better than letting him sit and rot away. I love my dad just as much as I love my mom… okay maybe a little lesser, but losing both parents won go well for me.