Aloof (standard:drama, 1406 words)
Author: kathyg	Added: Aug 22 2005	Views/Reads: 3595/2424	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A little girl is lost somewhere in the shuffle between what her father thinks is important and what really matters. This story ALOOF shows what might happen when parents and children grow apart.

It is 4:00 pm in the afternoon. A work-weary father opens the front door
to greet a six year old little girl. Her enthusiasm is infectious and 
he scoops her up and gives her a kiss. 

“I missed you, Daddy! Come in your office and see the sunrays! Come,
hurry!” 

“Oh, must we do this now?” he grumbles as he puts his coat away. “Can't
Daddy relax?” 

Jonathan follows Dana into his office but soon he tunes her out. He has
other things on his mind. A sudden mood change; his eyes turn cold as 
they cross over the pile of important papers he must attend to today. 

“See the sunrays darting all over the wall in yellows, reds and blues,
Daddy?” Dana says as she points to the traveling prisms of light 
flowing through the window. 

“I don't have time for games, Dana. Go, now and let me be.” 

“Come on, Daddy, just take a peek. It's fun. Don't you like the colors?”


Jonathan stands up, impatient, takes Dana by the hand and leads her to
the door. He pats her on the head and bends down, whispering, “Daddy is 
busy now, child. Later. Later, I'll look.” 

“That's what you said yesterday. It is never later. You keep forgetting
me.” 

Jonathan walks over to his desk. A pile of papers whooshes off the desk
like a flurry of snow. He chases each piece like gold. 

Why don't you care about me as much as you care about those dumb papers?
Dana thinks to herself, bending down to tie her shoe. Just a little bit 
of time, is that too much to ask? Look at me, Daddy. Don't turn away! 

She runs ahead of him, quickly storming into the pile of papers, kicking
them here and there, and watching them get tossed up into the air. The 
papers make a sound almost like fingers snapping. But when she turns 
around to see her father's face, bright red and angry, her smile fades. 
Fear rises up into her throat and she backs up to the wall. 

“I want you to pick up every single one of these papers, and I want them
in the correct order, young lady!” 

“How am I going to know that?” she whispers fearfully. 

“You just have to figure it out. Daddy needs those papers for work, and
you just kick them around like trash. Life isn't a game, girl. I need 
you to learn that now. Pick them up!” 

She runs over to the window and opens it wide. The papers fly out the
window, swirl around in the wind like little flags. The very sight of 
this makes her happy and she laughs. No more papers! “See, see the 
papers fly. Let's go chase them.” 

“Get out. Get out of my sight!” 

He takes her hand and he drags her out of the room. The door is slammed
and locked shut. 

Things would never be the same again, now that he closed the door on
her. 

Dana flies up the stairs to her room and buries her face in her pillow
as rejection fills her heart. 

Suddenly, a thought pops into her mind. Dana sits up and wipes her face.
The tear-stained pillow tells the story of heartbreak. Just a moment it 
would take to dry her tears; could there be rescue from sorrow? 

Getting off her bed, she shuffles to her dresser. With trembling hands,
she picks up a picture of her Daddy. 



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