[Disclaimer: This story is neither based on a true story nor represents the history]

9th November 1906, could be the best moment ever for my parents because I was born. But everything was ruined all of a sudden, my mother died…

I couldn’t see my mother, I couldn’t get the love of my mother, I couldn’t feel what it’s like to have a mother, and what I could do is cry and hug my mother’s photo.

But yes, it wasn’t like my father didn’t take care of me. After my mother died, he gave me the name “Leo” and fulfilled all my wants. I can say he is the best father in the world. But he had greater things to do such as earn money to buy food for us, pay my school fees, etc. So, I could barely get time with my father.

Everything was going pretty much normally, I used to go to school, come back home and have food, and then go to play with my friends, and come back home again, study a bit, and then have dinner with my father. But one day… One day I heard that a war has been declared. I became frightened and asked my father,

“What’s going to happen, dad?”

“What? What’s going to happen?”

“I mean, I hear that there will be a war. Are we all gonna die?”

“Stop! No, we won’t. Everything is normal, calm down. Have you done your homework?”

“No, I don’t have any homework, the school is closed for unspecified days, they said they will tell us when the school reopens”

“hmm, I see. Then let’s go somewhere else to enjoy our vacation, pack everything up, my son. We will have a lot of fun”

“Yeay!!!! But where are we going daaaad?”

“That’s a secret”

“Oh dad, please, please, please”

“Nope, Not now”

It was clear that my father was hiding something but as an 8-year-old boy, I never thought of it like that. The next day, I packed everything I needed, my toys, clothes, snacks, etc, and the most important thing, my mother’s photo. When it was time to go, I saw my father’s pleading eyes, it seemed like he was leaving something forever.

On our way, I saw everyone packing up everything and shifting somewhere else. Suddenly I started to get a lot of questions but I couldn’t ask my father about them because he already seemed to be in too much grief. My heart started to become heavy.

We reached our destination. It was my aunt’s house. She was also about to leave her house. My father whispered something to my aunt and gave her all the bags and luggage we packed up. Holding my hand, he said to me,

“My lovely son, Suddenly I got work to do, so I have to go. Don’t worry, your aunt will be with you”

“But dad! You said we will enjoy our vacation together!!”

“Sorry, I promise, I will be back soon”

“Nooo, I want to go with you, please dad”

“Son, it is not possible, my boss won’t allow you, try to understand”

“Then take me home, I’ll stay there”

“Don’t be childish! You are not going anywhere! You will stay with your aunt and that’s final!!! Did you understand?”

My father never shouted at me like that before, I got too hurt and moved my head to show that yes, I understood.

“Good boy. I’ll bring many toys and chocolates for you when I’m back. Make sure you don’t disturb your aunt and stay like a good boy”

My aunt joined the conversation and said to my father,

“Okay, we need to go fast and you too. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him”

“You are right, Goodbye son, take care of yourself and remember, your dad always loves you”

The last word “your dad always loves you” created an unbearable pain because I understood that I may not be able to meet my father ever again. He left, and we did too. My aunt took me somewhere called a safe place. Maybe it was a safe place as I could hear fewer sounds of aircraft, guns, etc. After some days, I started to miss my father and asked my aunt,

“Do you know where my father works?”

“Maybe yes, why?”

“I want to meet him”

“I don’t know where he is right now. I have more important things to do, don’t have time to answer your questions”

Saying so, she left the place. Day by day I started to feel that he will never come back. Never. But suddenly, one day, I got a new hope. A man came to my aunt. I heard him saying something about my father but couldn’t listen clearly as he was speaking in a low voice.

She called me and said,

“Your dad sent a mail to you. Read it and if you wish to say anything to your dad, you can tell that to this person, he will reach your words to your father”

The mail:

“Dear son, hope you are alright and your aunt is taking good care of you. Are you taking your meal on time? Take care of your health. Your dad got stuck here in a greater task. Sorry, please forgive me. I’ll try to come back as soon as possible. I miss you and love you. Your dad is always with you. Also, I hope you are not disturbing your aunt. And stop! Don’t you dare to cry, aren’t you a strong boy?”

I was very happy but also angry because my father said he would come back soon but never came back and instead sent a mail. I said to the man,

“Tell my dad why he isn’t coming back. Doesn’t he love me? Why did he lie to me that he will come back soon? I miss him, I miss him too much…”

Then I couldn’t hold on, I burst into tears in front of everyone and quickly went inside. The next day the so-called safe place became no longer a safe place. So, we had to shift to somewhere else again…

To Be Continued…

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