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My Father Who Lights A Pipe

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“Please, you should stay and not go out at night. Leave tomorrow when the sun is up. If you can hear it, then you are still young enough to feel its power, for it is always stronger at night,” the mother tells me. I watch as she rises from her chair, still carrying her daughter, and walks up the stairs to the bedrooms, disappearing into the shadows. I turn to the father who lights a pipe, “How long has this been going on?” I ask. “This has been happening for many years now, for as long as few of us remember. My great grandfather would tell me stories of my father getting out to the woods. Back then the nightingale’s song wasn’t as strong.” “Why has no one done anything to stop this? Has anyone tried to kill it? Have you asked any of…show more content…
The smoke curls into an image of a bird flapping its wings, it soars above my head then vanishes. “You must be tired. I will let you sleep for your long journey tomorrow,” he puts out the pipe and places it on the table beside his rocking chair. He makes his way towards the stairs but stops to look back at me, “If you do not mind me asking. What exactly are you traveling for?” I scratch the back of my head, “I never really questioned that myself. I just wanted to get out and experience new things,” I pause for a quick second, “I guess to find myself.” With a face of concern, he stands at the top of the stairs, between the light and dark, “I believe something was looking for you,” he tells me before crossing into the darkness and leaving me in silence. It is unbearable. Even in the house there is no noise. It is the silence that drives me crazy and unsettles me. For the life of me, I cannot bring myself to close my eyelids no matter how hard I try. I am not sure when the singing started again since I am not able to see any light coming from the sky through the distorted window. It is the sound of footsteps, that turns my attention away from the rippled glass, and I watch as the girl, in her slumber, walks slowly to the door and unlocks it. Quickly, I rush from the couch and touch her arm.
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