Finding Dad

• Stacie Wong, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

"We gather here today to mourn the death of Brad Miller, husband of Kate Miller, dad of April Miller, 1978 to 2019 he loved his life." said the man as April sobbed in her black dress holding rose petals.

2022 Christmas Eve,
"April hunny, can you hop to the store to grab one last ornament?" Kate asked. So April walked down the streets in the cold snowy weather. April comes across an old antique store and skips inside full with joy. She walks around to find an ornament with cute snowmans on it. She told the lady at the counter that this was the one she wanted to purchase. April ran home and was so excited to show her mum the new ornament. Too excited that she tripped over the snow, the ornament fell out of her hands and smashed all over the floor. To realise that it had a map inside.

So later that night when her mum was fast asleep she crept outside the window and followed the map. April was only three hours in and was led into the woods. April kept second guessing her decision but she needed to know where the map would take her. So she took a break and sat down. Then out of nowhere she heard a big loud growl from the back of her head. Shaking with sweat on her face. April turned around and jumped with fear and saw a pack of wolves about to attack her. She screamed for help but did not believe anyone would hear her. So the wolves cornered her in a circle. And only 5 kilometers away a man jumps from behind her into the fight and attacks all seven wolves one by one. April asks "Who are you? You saved my life, Thank you so much". The man spoke and after realising his voice April screamed "Ur my dad!"

April's dad took her to the location and it was his home that he made from wood. He hadn't died from a plane crash, he explained that "the plane had crashed in water and no one knew how to swim except me so I swam out of the water and ran to the closest location I could find. So here I am. I have been living here for 2 years now. I know all the tips and tricks about living in the woods" April was still sitting in shock and in disbelief.

Now for the past seven years April and her dad have been living in the woods. Then one chilling morning her dad passed away and didn't know why? Rescue services found out that he had been battling cancer for four years now and he couldn't live any longer.

THE END