Come Chat With Me Dad

I was sitting on the edge of a boardwalk. My feet swinging over, threatning to touch the sand on the beach below me. I wasn't sure how I got here, or when I had sat down, but I was here now, and nothing else mattered. 1

It wasn't a warm, or sunny day, but it was a perfect day. I watched the clouds drift lazily across the grizzly gray skies, and felt like I should be contemplating something. I looked around me, and vaguely became aware of the lack of people on the beach. I glanced behind me and saw that there was no one on the boardwalk either. I kicked off my socks and shoes, letting them drop onto the beach below, which is when I noticed a man walking along the shoreline. 2

I squinted my eyes to try and see him better. The man was carrying a bag. He was an old man, perhaps in his late sixties or early seventies. His hair was gray and balding, but he looked at peace, and very at ease. He began to draw closer, and I recognized him. 3

"Dad?" I called, and I beckoned him over to me. He walked closer to me, but he looked cautious, so I told him: "Come chat with me dad." He strolled over to me, and took his spot beside me.4

We sat on the edge together, wordlessly.5

"Are you hungry?" He asked, and I nodded, still wondering why he was here on this beach, after all this time. He produced two thermoses of soup from his bag, handed one to me and began to eat. I ate slowly, watching his every move. He drank the soup savouringly, like a man who had been deprived of taste. I tasted the soup only to find it tasted like every average brand of chicken soup. It was nothing special, but he treated it like an elixar of life. He seemed to me, like a wise person, with lots of experiances to share, and lessons to teach, so I began to ask. 6

"Where have you been all these years?"7

"Away from home." 8

"What was I to you before you left?" 9

"A Child."10

"Why did you leave?" 11

"To find solutions."12

"Where did you go?" 13

"Infinity and back."14

"What did you do there?"15

"Found answers."16

"When were you planning to return?"17

"When you needed me."18

I studied his face, while he looked out into the ocean. He looked sad, like his bag had been full of burdens, and that he had to carry it across the world. His old face looked covered in hardships, trials of life and questions without solutions. 19

"Where will you go now?" 20

"Where I'm needed." 21

"Why am I here?"22

"To learn." 23

"Why did you come?"24

"To teach you." 25

"What have I learned?"26

"Whatever you needed." 27

He reached into his bag and pulled out a briefcase. It was a briefcase that was so familiar to me. I remembered him carrying it out every morning as he went to work. He fumbled with the locks, but popped it open and slipped out a photo. He studied the photo with love and appreciation in his eyes, and then handed it to me. 28

"It's time for you to make your own mistakes now." He said to me thought provokingly. I took the photo from his hands and looked down at it. It was a picture of my family; my wife, my son and my newborn daughter.29

"It's time for you to make your own choices, and to teach from your own truths," he said. He kicked his bag off the boardwalk, and hopped down onto the beach. He had begun walking when I thought of a final question. 30

"Dad," I called, and he turned around. 31

"What will I do now?" 32

"Whatever the hell you want to do." 33