Ant Family Part 4

Chapter 56

"Dad." I immediately called Mr. Perelman when I entered his office. A while ago, he was busy taking care of incoming patients who had scheduled him. So when I got to the hospital where he and Hazel work, I chose to wait for his work to finish before entering. Earlier, when I asked Mrs. Perelman where her husband was, she replied that Mr. Perelman was at work. Which is why I came here in a hurry.

At that point, from his earlier bus studying some medical cases, he looked up at me. He adjusted his eyeglasses for a while, and when our eyes met, he smiled, so I smiled back too.

"Hailey, what are you doing here?" There was a concern in his voice, something that made me want to cry, but I suppressed it by clenching my fist. During these times, I want nothing else to do aside from us being complete again at home today. Laugh and talk for the remaining twelve hours. I will take this chance again so that he can be with his family before I take him away from them like what I did when I possessed their youngest child.

I tried to smile even though I wasn't happy but sad. If death is not prevented, I will make way for Mr. Perelman's remaining time to be meaningful.

I said, "I'm picking you up, Dad," before approaching him and holding his hand.

"Huh? But I still have a dozen things to do, Hailey. " That's when I frowned.

"Dad, we are going home. Mommy is waiting at home. She cooked your favourite foods. There's also a cake, and then there are gifts too! " I said proudly. At that point, Mr. Perelman's eyebrows met.

"My daughter, my birthday is still far away." He laughed, "What's up and your mommy has prepared? "

"Hmm, because Dad, our school project got the highest marks and it will be included in the academy's annual summer fashion show!" My happy statement made him smile.

"Wow! That should be celebrated. All right, Daddy is coming home so we can celebrate. " At that point, he stood up and began to put away his belongings. "Go to your sister; she's got no operation schedule right now." He ordered "Tell her we're going home." I just nodded and smiled at Mr. Perelman before he turned away. Yet as I turned away, my composure seemed to give up. My eyes couldn't hold back the tears and they were dripping. But I quickly wiped it before going out to fetch Hazel.

I found her standing in front of the pharmacy reading documents. So I prepared the smile again to send her home as well.

"Sister!" I shouted before running closer and hugging her.

"Oh my God! What's wrong, Hailey? What's wrong with you? God! Get off of me! " She seemed irritated, although she was laughing.

"Let's go home, sister!" It was there that I carved her until she also got tired and agreed to what I wanted.

On the way home to the Perelman mansion, we boarded a private car with the driver, Arjo, driving. Hazel and I were in the backseat while Dad was in the passenger seat.

"You know what, Hailey, you've changed a lot." That comment by Mr. Perelman broke the silence. Hazel fell asleep on the trip because it was a bit long and far from home. It was almost time in the afternoon, and I knew I was running out of time.

"What again, Dad?" Because of my deep thinking, I didn't immediately get what he said.

"What I'm saying is that you've changed so much." I sighed upon hearing that. The reason why the Hailey they knew changed so much was that the Hailey who was with him now wasn't their child. But Mary Sean, a lost soul, I am not Hailey, meaning to say,

"Dad, can you call me Mary now?"

"Huh?" That's where Mr. Perelman's forehead knit before looking back at me slightly.

"Call me Mary now!" I demand."

Why is that? Don't you want your name anymore? Do you want to change-"

"Dad, you overreacted! I just find Mary's name cool. You said I seem to have changed, and I think I have changed for the better. Mary is Jesus's mother, and she's good. So I want you, Dad, to call me Mary! " I happily uttered. He sighed and seemed to have no choice.

"Okay, fine, my daughter. I'll call you Mary just for the moment. "

"Yes!" I even blow in the air to make the fun realistic.

"So, Mary, my daughter, should we buy something before we go home?" I was momentarily taken aback by what he said. It seems like it's been a while since I last heard my name appended to the word "my daughter." I miss my dad, Arman. But at this point, I know I will also miss Mr. Perelman.

For about a month. He was a good father to me, and I really felt close to him. I don't seem to want it to end yet, but I know more than anyone that death can't be changed by anyone. It is not something you can dictate.

"No Dad, let's go home. Mom is already waiting at home." He nodded at what I said before turning his gaze to the front. However, I don't want to stop our conversation just like that. I want to have fun with him. I won't waste any seconds of it. "Dad, I have a story for you."

"All right, what's that Mary?" I bit my lower lip when I heard my real name again, but I continued with the story.

"I read a story about a woman who died and was possessed by another soul. You know what, Dad? At first, it was very difficult for the spirit to pretend to be the person she was with. She was also not used to the people around her. But as time went on, the spirit gradually adjusted until she fell in love with the family of the person she possessed. The spirit doesn't want to leave them anymore. She doesn't want to lose anyone to them. She loves them so much. " I saw Mr. Perelman smiling and listening.

"Now Dad, do you think the spirit is bad for possessing another human body? Doesn't she have the right to love the family of the person she stole the body from? " I want to know his opinion. I so badly want to know. Mr. Perelman laughed for a moment before he turned his gaze back to me again.

"I didn't know you were my daughter was also reading a horror story. I thought you were only reading fairy tales lately. " "Daddy! Where's my answer? "

He laughed at my scolding. "Alright! Alright, Hailey-no-I mean Mary. " After that, he first took a deep breath and touched his chin. "I think it's not a bad spirit that merged with the human body." He smiled. "And I don't think that she has no right to love the family; everyone has a right to love. The spirit is innocent, Mary. She is innocent. " At that point, I smiled sadly. If I was given another chance, I would like to experience being Mr. Perelman's child again. I want to experience him being my father again more than the times we are together now.

"Sir, we're already here." That said, Arjo, the driver, stopped our conversation.

"Okay, enough with this Hailey." He laughed before calling Hazel for a moment. "C'mon Hazel, wake up! We're here! " It was there that Hazel woke up, leaning on my shoulder. She stretched out her hand before smiling at us. From there, the three of us entered the house at the same time while Driver Arjo parked the car.

Mrs. Perelman greeted us in front of the house. After that, we simultaneously went to the dining area and ate there. The whole mansion was filled with the sounds of our stories and waves of laughter while eating food that night. It got to the point that we decided to sing karaoke in the living room for a while. You can dance, watch soccer, horse racing, and movie marathons. Until we all got tired and fell asleep. However, my sleep was interrupted. When I woke up from lying on the sofa, the wall clock had already hit midnight.

It was there that the death note spontaneously appeared in my hand. Something I never realized where I had put it before. When I opened it, the name of Mr. Perelman was there.

I took a deep breath and strained my eyes to find Mr. Perelman around, and there I found him sleeping while sitting on a sofa next to his wife, who was hugging him. It looks like we all fell asleep watching because until now the television was still working.

I was sleeping next to Hazel while Mr. and Mrs. Perelman were next to each other. At that point, I couldn't help but cover my lips to stop sobbing. The tears kept falling in my eyes, and I tried to hold back because I might hear someone and wake up immediately. Looking at Mr. Perelman now, he seems like he was just sleeping because he's still smiling. Yet, I know more than anyone in this house now that my supposed father has now passed away. As hard as it was, I stood up to approach him. Trembling, I tried to raise my hand, holding the death note. Even though my eyes were blurred with tears, I tried to read it without blinking.

"Name: Charles Perelman" It was then that memories of everything he had done in the world began to flood my mind.

Those memories made me cry even more because they were all smiley faces of his parents, siblings, and relatives. By the time his wife, who was from college, came into his life, he admired her a lot. "Age: 42 years old. " Until the memories of his wife's childbirth, pleasure, and sorrow disappear. That went as far as Hailey's accident and her struggle to save the child's life. "C-Cause of Death: Fated Death." I forced myself to finish reading, even though I was trembling and could barely cope with the received memories. Tears welled up in my eyes as I received from him his memories of me. We have happy memories from the past month. Laughter, teasing, storytelling, and serious talk. He was teaching me until our conversation a while ago. It's all on me now. It's all on me and it's making me crazy. I took a deep breath before reading the last line. "Time of Death: 12:03 am." It was there that the soul of Mr. Perelman left his body. At that point, I could do nothing but watch his smiling soul disappear in front of me. I was happy to see it go up to the top, but when it finally disappeared in front of me, I had to sit down because I couldn't take it anymore. I closed my eyes for a moment to process everything I saw. I was shivering, and I really could hardly control myself anymore. However, I still forced myself to crawl closer to Mr. Perelman's lifeless body and hugged his cold feet. Even though I was crying, I chose to close my eyes and go back to sleep. I wish that everything was just a dream, that everything was just another nightmare.

The father tried to save his daughter, but when he rescued Ester, he was swept away. As Ester cried over what happened to her father, the child could do nothing but watch the father being swept away by the strong flood. Ester felt remorse for what she had done.

The message of the short story entitled "Ant Family" is how a father loves his family. The father is the foundation of the family.

And he will do everything so that no one will be left behind. The story shows the strength of a father. Something the world has shown me more than once. Because for the second time around, I lost a father again. A father who considered me his child, although only for a short time.

I M _ V E N A