The Twisted Twig

Jamie was infuriated. Today was Christmas, and after joyriding her mother's car the night before she was burdened with the task of having to clean out the attic before their relatives showed up! She pulled the ladder down and started climbing up. As she climbed, she felt she was getting closer and closer to impending and inevitable doom. When she got all the way up she took a deep breath in and regretted it right away because her lungs filled with so much dust that she almost fell down the stairs. She looked around at all the boxes of forgotten toys, torn up papers, and dust covered photo albums. There was no way she could ever get this done in time. She yelled, overwhelmed with rage. She kicked one of the boxes and a red jacket fell on the floor. She recognized it, it was her father's. Her eyes welled up with tears, she hadn't seen her father since he left. They got the red jacket back when his box of possessions was delivered after he died. She looked in the pocket and saw a family picture, a picture taken right before his deployment. Now tears were gushing out of her eyes. She looked in the other pocket and found the twig. When Jamie was 5, she was walking in the forest with her father. He picked up the twig and held it with her. He said no matter where I am, I will always keep this with me so I remember that you will always be my beautiful little girl. Jamie held it to her heart, she missed her father.