She ran out of the car as fast as she could, heaving and sighing, repeatedly reassuring herself that everything would be just fine. 30 minutes ago, Katie had been at a get together at the office, celebrating the company’s latest success when she had suddenly got a phone call from her little sister. She could sense that Kim was tensed as she’s muttered, “Katie, where are you?”. Katie’s heart had skipped a few beats. Kim never sounded worried, even during exam time.
“I’m at the office. What’s the matter?”
“Please. Come home.”
Bang. The phone was disconnected. Katie was disturbed. Somebody was hurt and she could sense it. Images streamed in as she grabbed her bag and keys, bid everyone a rather abrupt goodbye and rushed downstairs to the parking lot. Once she’d got in the car, she noticed a few missed calls from her fiancé. She was fast running out of time to respond to them though. Everything seems to black out. She wanted to believe that Kim was playing a prank.
The signals were against her all the way and her destination suddenly seemed so far away. Finally, she reached the drive way to her home. Her legs felt weak and unprepared to hold her up but she managed to run with all her might. Kim answered the door and let her in. She wanted the world to end as she prepared to hear the news.
“Start packing Katie! We have a flight to catch in an hour. One dream vacation to GREECE!”
“WHAT?!” Katie yelled, “Kim, have you the slightest idea how much you scared me?!”
“I know. I did that on purpose.” Kim shrugged, “You wouldn’t have left the office even if I told you that I was getting married tomorrow.”
“Is that why Steve called me a couple of times too?”
“Probably. He didn’t really agree with the whole “scare-the-crap-out-of-you” thing.”
“You think?” Katie yelled.
Their conversation was cut short when their dad walked in with the bags, looking ready to set off. “Dad, why would you allow Kim to do that?” Katie asked.
“Because I knew that was the only way to get you here honey. Besides, we haven’t been on a family vacation in years.”
Katie sensed she couldn’t wiggle out of the trip. The excited look on her dad’s face told her he wanted it to happen and arguing with him at this point would be a bad idea.
“Okay”, Katie acquiesced, “I’ll just have to make a few calls and do the packing. How long are we going for?”
“Two weeks”, her dad replied.
“Two weeks?!” she exclaimed, “I can’t be on vacation for two weeks!”
Once again, the look on her dad’s face was one which she knew not to argue with. So she packed her bags and off they went. The vacation went perfectly and the memories were still fresh in Katie’s mind when she left work a few weeks after they got back. That’s when she saw Kim on her caller ID. Katie really didn’t have time for her pranks again and decided not to pick up until she got home.
As she reached home, a mind-numbing silence enveloped the place. Kim came running down from upstairs with mascara running down her pale face.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Katie worriedly asked, not really wanting to hear the answer. Kim hugged her tight and began to sob loudly. “Kim, what’s wrong?” she asked again.
“Dad’s no more Katie” Kim sobbed into her sister.
In that moment Katie fell to her knees as tears came streaming down her face. She wasn’t prepared. No one ever is. But now she knew why the vacation had been so important to him. He had known all along. She remembered now, on the fifth day of the trip, while she had been struggling to get phone signal outside the resort, her dad had come up to her and said “Katie, some day you’ll know why moments are more important than anything else in the world.” And now she knew.
“We do not remember days, we remember moments” – Cesare Pavese
Priya Varughese
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enteponeeee..chuma awsome !!!