I Want Everything

Summer

I did as he said, I opened the email and the first attachment. The picture that came on display had me sitting upright and my hand went to my mouth as I stifled a distressed cry. It was a picture of my father with his head down and his hands tied behind him. I swiped and another picture came into view, him in the dark room, in this he looked like he hadn’t slept for days and he was suffering from a fatal disease. I swallowed the tears that crowded my throat, tried to regulate my breathing as my fingers trembled when I swiped again. This was him standing near a window, looking out. Forlorn. Sad. Empty. Lonely.
I didn’t realise that even after trying so hard to smother the tears they had still escaped until the hand at the back of my neck turned my fa……