Kilthalia
The 105-year-old duck sat on the couch in the living room, watching TV.
“Daddy?”
He looked over at his 6-year-old daughter. “Hey! What’s up Carma?”
“I love you.”
“Huh? Aw, I love you too.” He leaned over and kissed her head between the pigtails.
“Come read me a bed time story?”
“Sure, I’ll be there in a moment.”
The little girl ran off to her room.
“You’re a real loving father, you know that Drake?”
He looked up at his young wife. “Heh, yeah, I guess.” He started to get up and his wife helped him the rest of the way. “Guess I’ll go read her a story.” He limped down the hall to his daughter’s room.
“Hiya!”
“Hey, sport. Which one would you want me to read to you?” he looked through her bookcase of numerous children’s books.
“Daddy, tell me about when you were young.”
“Alright then…”
For hours on end he talked about when he was a child, a teen, a young man starting to live a life of crime and continuing with the time he got shot (and that’s why he limps), then how he met her mother.
“Wow!”
“Yeah!”
“I think it’s time for bed, you two,” his wife stood in he doorway.
“Sorry. Kinda got wrapped up in the story.”
“Well, that’s ok. Now say good night and come to bed dear.”
After she left the room, Drake whispered to Carma, “She treats me like a child sometimes,”
She giggled and he kissed her head and tucked her in. “Goodnight, Carma, I love you.”
“Goodnight Daddy, I love you too.” And he turned out the light.
Drake headed up stares into his bedroom and found his wife already in bed. He raised an eyebrow, then she signaled him to come over, he gave a smirk.
Late that night the married couple cuddled in bed. “I love you Drake.”
“I love you too, Liz. Y’ know, I’m getting old.”
“Of course you’re getting old! You’re going on your 106 birthday!”
“Only the good die young.” He sighed. “I love you and Carma so. I hope nothing bad happens to either of you when I’m gone.”
“What??!”
“Oh, not now! Later!”
“Don’t scare me like that!”
“No, I love you too much, “ he held her tighter. “Goodnight Lizabeth.”
“Goodnight Drake.”
That night Drake that he died in his sleep, dreaming of his past life; his death was a painless release of his physical bonds to the earth.
The next morning it snowed and when Lizabeth awoke and looked out side she was excited. “Oh Drake! It snowed! Look!” Her husband’s body didn’t move. “C’mon, Drake, wakey wakey.” She shoved him and he stiffly slid over. “Drake?” Lizabeth laid her hand on his chest and noticed that, first, he was not warm, and second, he was not breathing. His bill was a terribly faded orange. This came as a shock to her. She began to tear. “Oh Drake,”
“Momma?”
Liz gasped and turned to her six year old. “Honey, come here.”
Carma carefully walked over and her mother put her on the bed. “Give Daddy a kiss goodbye.”
“Why? He’s not going anywhere and neither are we. And he’s still asleep.”
“Right now Daddy’s on a permanent vacation.”
“Daddy’s…dead?”
Liz started to cry. “Momma, Daddy wouldn’t want you to be sad.”
She sniffled. “I know, honey, but…Permanent Vacation was Daddy’s favorite album!”
A few months passed and Lizabeth went to her doctor.
“Lizabeth, how’s the baby?”
“Makes me a little sick in the morning and at night, and it normally hurts here.”
“Hmm, I don’t like that.”
“I know,”
“How are you?”
“I just said!!”
“No, I mean, as a widow.”
“Oh,” her eyes teared up.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I just gotta say, I’m keeping this baby, no matter what! It was my husband’s dying wish, even though he never said it verbally.”
“Ok, ok, just take it easy.” He went over to a counter to fill out a prescription. “This’ll help with the pain and your sick feeling you’ve been having.”
“Thank you,”
September came around and Lizabeth’s egg hatched. “I think I’ll name him…” She went into a flashback, thinking about what she and Drake were going to call Carma if she was a boy.
“What about Deric?”
“Heck no! Nathon, Keith or…Enfirno!”
“Enfirno?? Are you kidding me??”
“No.”
“Well, let’s agree to a suitable name, ok?”
He reluctantly agreed. “Clyde?”
Liz made a face, but thought a minute. “You really like Enfirno as a name for your son?’
“Yeah! Why not?!”
Back to the present.
“I’ll name you Enfirno. It’s what you’re father wanted.”
“Momma? Why that name?”
“It was what your father wanted to call you. But when you turned out to be a girl your father went nuts…In a good way. Right on the spot, where you were hatched, he quietly named you ‘Carma’ from his favorite computer game, Carmageddon.”
“Oh! I’m named after a computer game??”
Liz laughed, “Yeah!” Then she realized, “Oh my!”
“What momma?”
Liz was sad again, “I hadn’t laughed since your father was alive.”
“Maaaa, maaaa!”
“What, Enfirno?!” she said, impatiently.
“I’m going over to Nate’s place!”
“Oh no you’re not! That boy’s a bad influence!”
“Oh yeah?! Catch me if you can!!” and he ran off.
At Nate’s, later. “Yeah, and what does she think I am? A baby??! I’m seven! I can take care of myself!”
“Well, that may be, but what of your sister?”
“Oh, Carma? We had her 13 birthday a week ago and she’s been going out with this guy that gives me the creeps!”
“And your dad?”
“I don’t know. It’s like aliens came and abducted him, like Elvis!”
“Who’s Elvis??”
“A singer from the 1950’s!”
“Man! That was decades and a millennia ago! How’d you know ‘bout him?!”
“My mom keeps Dad’s old records around and listens to ‘em sometimes.”
“Wow!”
“Nate!” his mother called. “Time for dinner!”
“Be right there!” he called down to her. “Listen, man, maybe I’ll horde you some food up here, k?”
“Stellar!”
Nate went down and Carma climbed through the window, the same as Enfirno did earlier. “Enfirno! Why’d you run away again?!”
“Carma! How’d you get here?! Go away!!”
“Eeewww! Nooo waay!! Daddy wouldn’t have wanted you to be so distant!”
“Yes he would!”
“How do you know?! You’ve never met him!”
“Well, you did! What would he do?”
“He’d probably sand you to bed with no dinner! Now come home!”
“Wait Carma,”
“What?”
“I have to know! What ever happened to Dad?”
Carma looked down at the floor and looked sad. “He died when I was six.”
“What?!” he said weakly. “Why? H, how??!”
“He was old, Enfirno! He was going on his 106th birthday before you were born. I think it was his time…”
“A hundred and six??!! What?!! No one’s lived that long!”
“Well, daddy did,”
“Wow,”
“Now c’mon!”
“No! Mom’s gonna yell at me, and you know it!!”
“Only because she loves you and worries about you. With Dad gone she had to deal with us alone!”
“Well, why don’t she get married again?”
“Cause…” Enfirno found her to have no answer. “C’mon, let’s go home,”
“Mom, tell me about Dad.”
She sighed. “I was afraid of this day.”
“Why?”
“Because I would be forced to remember memories about him and I don’t want to grieve again.”
“You loved him?”
“Oh yes, very much.” She began to tear up.
Enfirno laid a hand on her shoulder and she pat it, trying to clam herself.
*************************************************************
“I miss Dad…and Mom,” said the tall redhead going silver.
“I know, Luci. I do too,” replied his dark-hair-going-white, sister.
“Where ever could he have gone??! I thought he loved us!”
“Luci, he does. But I don’t know where he is either,”
“He must be dead already…he’d be 113 this winter… DAMN!” Lucifer pounded his fist. “I didn’t want him to die alone. I wanted to be there for him!! I wanted to say goodbye,” Lucifer started to cry. His sister leaned her big brother over so he could cry on her shoulder.
“I think you were there for him, in heart, Luci,”
“I miss him so much” he said sobbing.