When Dad turned up with tickets for Winter Wonderland, Tyler and I were truly astonished, for several reasons.
First, we hadn’t seen Dad since October, when he and Mum had one of their dramas. He stayed out all night and she waited for him. When we went to school, he still hadn’t turned up. He wasn’t there when we got home and she only laid three places for dinner. We knew better than to ask.
Secondly, it had already been agreed this was going to be a Little Christmas. In our family, this was an important concept. When Mum and Dad were flush, or had managed to patch things up with one or both sets of grandparents, we might get a Big Christmas. That meant proper presents, a proper Christmas dinner, and maybe even a proper tree. But most years were Little Christmases, where we each got a few things in a stocking and Christmas dinner was whatever Mum could conjure up from the freezer and the cupboards. One year, we had instant mash with Bisto and burgers.
Thirdly, even when there was a little bit of money around, Dad never bought us anything. It never occurred to him to treat or spoil us, or even to pretend to find fifty pence behind our ears. If he had coins in his pocket, he spent them on himself. Or very occasionally on Mum, if he was trying to heal a wound. Clothes, usually – skimpier and more gaudy than anything she would ever buy herself.
So, when he arrived on the doorstep, pink faced and cider breathed, chuckling and prancing like a clown, we simply didn’t believe him. He waved the envelope at us and pinched our cheeks.
‘Who’s the best Dad in the world, eh? My lovely girl and my lovely boy.’
You can now read the rest of this story in my collection Intervals of Darkness available as an eBook and paperback from 7 September 2024.
Declaration on the use of generative AI
I didn’t use any AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to write the story. I drew the illustration myself with pen, on paper, and then edited it in Photoshop, which did include a small clean-up on the signpost using Adobe’s Generative Fill (Adobe Firefly).
Precast Reinforced Concrete Heart 