Mate, you wont believe this story honestly, its the kind of thing you only ever read about online, but turns out, it was my own life.
So, picture this: I was six when my dad just up and left. Absolutely vanished, like a ghost, out of mine and my mums life. There I was, my mum, and my two little sisters theyre twins and he just left us hanging. Mum tried to make it sound less horrible, telling me he was off on some work trip, but I could tell. Kids always know, dont they? Eventually, she just gave up pretending and told me straight up, Your dads not in our lives anymore.
Honestly, I was just a kid couldnt really wrap my head around the whole thing. I felt so angry at him, always imagining him showing up one day. Of course, that never happened. Mum just got on with it, never bothered trying to find someone else. Not that she wouldve had it easy who fancies taking on a single mum with three little girls in tow? The years went by, I got married, had my own family. Still in the countryside, running a little farm with an apple orchard. Its still young but its coming along nicely, starting to make a bit of money here and there.
Then, a few months back, I get this phone call out of nowhere. Bloke Ive never heard of says he wants to talk, reckons hes interested in buying apples, loads of them. Of course, I said yes. We met up in my orchard and there he is, this bald, overweight man I dont recognise. He properly grins at me and hands me a carrier bag. I open it up and honestly cheap boiled sweets and a tin of instant coffee. I was baffled. Then he says:
Im your father.
I was totally lost for words, just kind of mumbled:
Have you been in prison?
No.
So, are you buying apples then?
No.
Well, goodbye then.
Goodbye
He left the bag on the bench, can you believe it? I ran after him and gave it back. Not sure what he was expecting, honestly. I warned my sisters in case he turned up for them too and of course, he did, same sad little bag in hand. How on earth can someone show up after 24 years with just a tin of instant coffee and a bag of cheap sweets? How do you even explain that?
