Dad Turned Fifty, I Turned To Ice novel

Chapter 9 After the funeral , Dad sat alone by the grave . Everyone else had left . Only him and the tombstone remained . He pulled an old voice recorder from his pocket , the one he'd used ten years ago to take customer orders . He'd never been able to throw it away . He absentmindedly pressed play . My childhood voice , clear and cheerful , filled the air . " Daddy ! Daddy ! I want a big crab ! " " Okay , okay , Daddy will buy you one ! " " Daddy's the best ! I love Daddy most ! " It was a recording from before my diagnosis .

The last time I spoke normally .Dad listened , tears streaming down his face . He pressed replay over and over , listening to me call him " Daddy . " " My baby girl ... Daddy's so sorry . I'd trade every birthday I've got left . I'd trade all of them , just to have you back . Even if it meant living in that quiet forever . I'd take it in a heartbeat . ' " } Mom walked over . The two of them hugged the tombstone and wept . " If I ever get to be your mom again ... in another life , anywhere ... I won't ask for normal . I won't ask for easy . I'll just ask for you . However you are .

However you come . Just you , baby . That's all I'll ever need . " They sat there for a long time . Until it grew dark . Until the cemetery attendant came to urge them to leave . My parents returned home . The house felt empty . There was no longer any reason to tread carefully . Mom walked into the kitchen . She wanted to call out loudly as she used to , " Bill , dinner's ready ! " But the words reached her lips , and her voice automatically dropped to a whisper . She paused , startled . She tried again . Still couldn't raise her voice . Dad wanted to turn on the TV .

His finger hovered over the remote . He hesitated for a long time . In the end , he still set the volume to the lowest level . Mom looked at him . " We can turn it up louder now . " Dad nodded and increased the volume by one notch . But almost immediately , it felt jarring , and he quietly turned it back down . They looked at each other , seeing the same despair mirrored in each other's eyes . Emily returned to her room . She looked at the piano gathering dust in the corner . She walked lifted the cover , placed her fingers on the keys , took a deep breath , and pressed down hard .

over , Chapter 949 100.00 % A single piano note rang out , Boom , too stark in the quiet . Emily flinched , her gaze snapping toward the doorway in automatic fear . Then she remembered . Sis wasn't here anymore . She tried another note . Then a scale . But every note felt like an accusation . She played , her hands trembling uncontrollably , until she finally collapsed over the keyboard , weeping without sound . " Amelia ! I'm sorry , I'm so sorry ... I can't play anymore . I'll never be able to play again ... " That night , Mom and Dad lay in bed . Neither could sleep .

At this hour before , they would take turns getting up to listen outside my door , making sure I wasn't self - harming . That wasn't needed now . But their body clocks remembered . Mom automatically woke at 2 a.m. She instinctively started to get up , then remembered halfway . Her daughter wasn't here anymore . She stood in the hallway , staring at the blank wood of my door . Then her knees buckled , and she folded to the floor right there , as if all the air had been punched from her . In a voice softer than any she'd used in the past ten years , she whispered , " Amelia ...

Mommy misses you so much . Just come home . You can scream . You can break every dish in the house . I won't say a word . Just ... please , come back . " But no one answered her . Only the empty hallway . And the forever - closed door . The next morning , their neighbor Linda came by . She spoke in her usual loud , breezy manner , her voice echoing in the room . " Bill , Elizabeth ... I'm so sorry . You've got to be kind to yourselves now . Life ... it has to keep moving forward . " Mom and Dad both frowned simultaneously , instinctively making a " shush " gesture . Then they realized .

Quiet wasn't necessary anymore . Linda smiled awkwardly and lowered her voice too . " Well ... I just came to see how you're doing . Let me know if you need anything . " From then on , everyone who came to this house would unconsciously tread lightly and speak softly . As if a child who needed quiet still lived there . My soul returned to this house one last time . I watched Dad walk on tiptoe . I watched Mom speak in hushed tones . I watched Emily , unable to play a complete tune . I watched Grandpa , who no Chapter 9 100.00 % longer loved to sing . I looked at this ...

house cursed by "quiet . " I let out a long , deep sigh . My body began to dissolve into countless points of light , slowly dissipating into the air . I became a breeze , brushing through this oppressively quiet home , then vanished into the air . Goodbye , Dad , Mom , Emily , Grandpa . Goodbye to the house where silence learned to live louder than any sound . The light points completely faded . Only an empty room remained . And four people who would never learn to speak loudly again . admin