A Bittersweet Memory

The sand was warm between her toes despite the setting sun. A humid summer breeze whizzed past and ruffled her long dark locks. She remembered clinging to her father's arm. Begging and pleading for him to come with the rest of the family. Her eyes watered as they boarded the ship.

"I'll be right behind you." Her father whispered in his native tongue.

The girl looked up into her father's eyes. He too was on the verge of crying.

"P-Promise?" The girl whimpered as she wiped at her eyes with her sleeve.

The man nodded before he picked her up and placed her upon the boat. He smiled softly but there was a slight hint of sorrow behind his eyes. He then stroked the child's hair and hugged her.

"I promise."

The ship blew its horn. The man let go of his daughter and climbed over the boat's railing. The girl's eyes widened. She leaned over to grab him and pull him back aboard. He couldn't leave her. Not now.

"Papa!" She cried as he tugged away from her.

The man turned his back, unable to face the child.

"Papa!" She shrieked as her tears began to fall. "You promised!"

The man hung his head and stiffened at the reminder as the ship drifted out beyond the shore. A broken promise. That would be the last memory his nine-year-old daughter would have of her father. The girl screamed and wailed beneath the pale night moon that watched from a above. Her mother was quick to hush her, but the girl ignored the notion. Eventually, she'd calm down and wander below deck with the rest of the family.

That moment was years ago, but it still stuck to mind of the girl that experienced it firsthand. Now a young woman, she hoped to someday reunite with her father. Even now as nearly an entire decade had passed since he had last held her in his arms.