Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 3 2018 | Page 127

“Um…we… I… “Just before he finished his sentence, Gemma skipped upstairs. “I knew you were going to
come through dad! A family holiday, well, a father and daughter one. Does Gillian have to come? I don’t
think she should! Just me and you, oh I love you dad!”
“Hold up honey, I’m going on holiday on my own… and- “
“Wait, you’re leaving me here with… her!? Gemma started to sulk as she dropped herself down onto one of
the steps on the stairs. “Just go, you’re probably never going to come back anyways, it won’t make a
difference as you barely even talk to me.”
“Honey… you know I love you, but this is just too much for me to handle.”
“WHAT, are you saying that you can’t handle the baby and me or that mum is gone?” There was no
response. He didn’t hesitate to stop what he was doing and stay with his daughters and as he opened the
door he turned around and looked at Gemma, “I love you and I’m sorry!” and he was out the door before
you knew it, he didn’t even tell Gemma where he was going.
It was the start of the month after the girl’s dad left and an envelope came in, it was from their dad, there
were no ‘I love you’ notes or ‘I miss you’ notes. There was just money, 200 pounds, and the same type of
envelope was the same every month. As the two girls started to grow up they started to get rather close and
what brought them closer each month was the way they were living: they did not use much lights, just
natural light from the windows, Gemma and Gillian shared a room because Gill was scared of the dark.
When Gemma prayed before she slept, there were now four hand prints. Gemma would pray that one day
her dad would come back, and that Gillian would get to see him as the dad he used to be, not the one he
was when Gill was a baby.
Gemma had been through a lot as she grew up and she didn’t want her sister to follow the same path she
took, so Gemma was very protective of Gill and she acted like a mother to her, like the mother she wish she
had through her early stages of life. Maybe their mum was not with them physically, but in Gemma’s heart
she would take her mum through every milestone of her and her sister’s life.
It was the start of a new month and Gemma went outside to the mail box to get their subsistence money
from her dad. However there was nothing in the mail box… They waited the whole month and lived off
scraps and bits and pieces of food, but nothing was in the mail box the next month either. What if
something might have happened to their dad? Or maybe the two sisters were relying on him too much and
he just didn’t come through? Whatever it was Gemma and Gillian had to figure something out…