Chapter 27

The first picture was a picture we took in Kuala Lumpur. The nature of my dad's job allowed him to travel a lot and when I have the opportunity, I do go with him too. In the picture, I was wearing a red dress I bought from a clothing store the previous day and I had a scarf tied over my head like the natives usually do. He was wearing his pilot uniform. We took the picture at the airport. I was ten years old then, a few months after he and mum divorced.

The next picture was taken in an Egyptian stadium where we went to watch a football game. My dad loved football a lot so I had to pretend I loved football too so that I can get to spend more time with him.

Of course, I pretended to love football but there were other things we really had in common. One of those things is reading. My dad and I would visit a library or a book store during our leisure time and we would read a book together. My dad taught me to be a frequent reader.

"A reader is a leader"He would say to me.

We read novels like Great Gatsby, Jane Eyre and Harry Potter.

Apart from reading, we also both loved adventures and art. My dad once told me that he chose to be a pilot because he had a great passion for travelling ever since he was a young child. I remembered our visit to Paris a few weeks before he died (it was the last time we travelled before his death), we walked into the Courant d'Art Bookshop and explored as much as we could. A magazine photographer we met asked to take a picture of us and send it to our address. The photographer whose name was Fernandez worked as a photographer for The people magazine. At first, my dad refused but he later agreed when I told him that I would really love my picture featured in a magazine. He took our pictures and we gave him our address in Allentown. Two weeks later, when we returned from our trip, we had two copies of The people's magazine delivered in our mailbox. The picture had the caption "beauty to behold" and was the cover photo. I was so elated that I even posted in on my Instagram page. I had the photo cut out and framed.

I checked other pictures too. They all reminded me of my father. I was going through the pictures when I saw the date on my phone. September sixteen, the day I lost my dad. I felt so ashamed of myself to have forgotten my dad's death anniversary. I cried so hard that I fell asleep and I dreamt....

in the dream I saw my father floating on clouds, I tried calling him but he didn't answer me. I tried coming close to him but the closer I moved the farther he went.

I started crying and he called out my name. I answered him and he told me that he loved me so much and that he misses me. He made me promise him not to miss him again. He told me that whenever I miss him, I should go back to the memories we had together. He kissed me on the cheek and disappeared.