Short Stories for Kids

FATHER IN THE DRAWER
By Bunny Ann Gapi as told to Nino Mark Sablan

It was just a week after the burial of my father and although I was missing him so much, I was also being paranoid. I knew my father has a couple of unfinished business back when he was still alive. I was so sure he felt disappointed when he realized that his time was up even if he still had a lot of unchecked boxes on his list.

What if he was so troubled that he decided to show himself to us? What if he chose me of all people to finish what he failed to do back when he was still alive?

I was thinking of so many things that night that I effortlessly fell asleep and forgot all about my father.

But it was during my sleep that my father made his presence known.

In my dream, I had just taken a bath and was wrapped in a thick bright towel. I got another one and dried my hair with it. When I opened a drawer to get some underwear, I saw my father’s head there – pale, dry and with big popping eyes looking at me. The unexpected content surprised me that I pushed the drawer away from me screaming in fear.

And then I woke up. The dream scared me so much that I lay there paralyzed with fear. I wanted water but was afraid I’d see my father’s head inside the ref. I wanted to urinate but I was scared of what could happened inside the comfort room.

After another week, I finally summoned enough courage to open my drawer to get some underwear. Actually, I tricked my younger brother to doing it for me. When I took a peek, I realized that my father’s head wasn’t there to scare me. Instead, lying there amongst my lingerie was a broken padlock. I took it out, wondering what it was doing there when I recognized it as the padlock to my father’s mausoleum. Later, we learned that bored teenagers had broken inside my father’s resting place to smoke cigarettes, drink beer and do a little private partying.

My father didn’t care about his unfinished business anymore. He just wanted some peace. The intruders were bothering him and I guess it was his way of telling me to buy him a new and better padlock.

And so I bought one, smiling because not only was my father going to finally rest in peace. I also knew that one of those nights, some smokers or alcoholics out there would be very surprised when they open their drawers.