For the love of a father...

Oh wow, could this be any more uncomfortable

Jack couldn’t control his nervous hands from fidgeting with the zipper on his jacket which did NOT want to connect with each other 

“Oh great” he audibly sighed he was uncomfortable enough as it was, standing amongst the rows and rows of books at the BEST BOOKS book store. He was a stout, strong man with an intimidating figure, one that seemed mildly out of place walking past the princess unicorns and tutu covered books. 

"Oh good lord” This was clearly the wrong isle, he must have missed the one he was told to go to by that young woman dressed to sharp for her age at the front desk, if only she had walked with him like she does for the other customers. a grunt issued from under his mustache, he furrowed his brow and headed back up the main isle to start over again.

He gathered himself together at the beginning just in time to be thrown forward as if rammed by one of the trucks he works on each day at the shop

"DADDY! There you are!” exclaimed a small, no older than 5, little girl, head to toe covered in bright purple and yellow, holding out a rather thick looking book and beaming! “I knew I would catch up too you!” She said, crawling up his arm onto his back, book still in hand 

“Alright now settle down sugar plum,” Jack said, easing his small daughter off his back and back onto the floor, “What ya got there? Looks awful long..” he began to fidget with that zipper agin, dang thing was in a full blown rebellion.

“Its a CHAPTER BOOK daddy! its got pirates and swords and unicorns and everything! You will LOVVVVEEEE it!” and with that she fell over onto one of the benches provided for weary parents or avid readers “Its perfect!” She said, staring at the cover briefly before pulling it in tight to her chest holding it tightly with her eyes closed

A wave crashed onto Jack as he saw his daughter, young and excited looking through the pages with innocent

 joy and pure anticipation.

he leaned down and stopped up his small child, being sure not to crumble her pages or cause her to loose her place, carrying her to the front he approached the desk again, this time the young woman was accompanied by a small elder lady with half-moon glasses and a bit of hunch, “May I help you sir?” asked the young woman, rather indignantly.

Jack began to squirm on the spot “Ah, yes, erm, would you mind directing me to the self help section? I seem to have lost my way the first time…” With the request Jack felt her eyes fall onto his grungy appearance and his daughter engulfed in her book on his arm but before she could respond at all the small elder woman stepped from behind the desk. 

“I can handle this Mary. You can follow me sir” she said, shuffling towards a new isle of books, “You’re Harriett’s husband aren’t you” she said with an endearing smile

“yes mam, this is—“

“George, I know. Named for George Eliot aren’t you little miss” she said on her tip toes to peek over the edges of George’s book. Realizing that someone knew her real name, George scrambled out of her daddy’s arms running to the woman side.

 “Yes mam I am. My name is George May Alcott Smith, my mamma named me for her two favorite writers” she said, placing her hands proudly on her little hips with the conviction of saying it 100 times over to anyone who cared to ask.

Stopping and leaning down to be almost eye level with little George the elder woman continued: “I know who you are miss George. Your mother used to come in here all the time and read to you when you were just a little baby, even before that I watched her come and read to all types of people. Your mother loved to read, and I see you’ve picked out a chapter book, do you like to read too?” 

George nodded her head so vervantly that, had it not been attatched properly to her body, it might have fallen right off. With a smile the elder woman slipped a piece of candy out of he pocket, handing it to George and motioning towards the benches down the isle, “Why don’t you go read on that very special bench, it was made just for little girls who read chapter books!”

“Yes mam! Thank you!” and without any hesitation she ran down the row, plopping herself on the very special bench, because she was in fact a little girl reading a chapter book! 

Contiuing to follow this kind woman down the isle, Jack explained “She, she used to read with her mom”, watching is whole world dive into the world of the pirates and unicorns, just like her mother used to do with large novels, they even curled there legs the same way when focussing on a hard word.

A soft smile broke across his face, swamped by tears rolling down his cheeks “I can’t replace her, but I was hoping, that maybe, I could try to be more like her…” The words fell heavily out of his mouth. The past few months had been unbearable for Jack. Harriett was the love of his life, his better half and he couldn’t save her from the cancer that consumed her. As he wiped away his falling tears he felt the small hand of the elder woman on his forearm, they had stopped almost in front of George who was still engrossed in her book 

“I will be here everyday until 6:30, you come in, bring George, and we can work together. You will never be able to replace her, but you can certainly be the light for George. All you need is a little help. And we can help your daddy can’t we George!” 

Seeing that the elder lady had picked a book from the shelf George read the title with enthusiasm “Of course daddy! Its not that hard at all! Mama teached me real good!"

And with that the elder lady handed Jack a book, his first book “Self-Help: How to Read”.